The Clone Battles Quintology
by VaderSpike
Summary: Two survivors of Order 66 get more than they asked for, while Darth Vader and Palpatine secretly devise a way to become immortal. Five part story. Each part is 8 chapters long. First 4 parts take place during/after RotS (Ep.3). Part 5 takes place after RotJ (Ep.6).
1. The Beginning Prologue

Prologue

The planet Nagob was always considered a great mystery. Originally, it was a popular vacation sight for tourists from other planets, because of the way things changed, disappeared, or relocated randomly. But now, there is a war raging on across the galaxy and the planet is open for invasion.

Two Jedi Knights and a squad of Clone Troopers are engaged with a swarming mass of combat droids invading the planet. This was Moona Jonstone and Alku Justina's first big assignment since they were raised to the level of Jedi Knights a few months ago. They were assigned to protect Nagob because of the low population level and less pressure of having to save lots of lives. In other words, they are starting out small.

"I hope this war ends soon!" yelled Moona loudly over the screams and explosions of the battle, "We can't keep this up forever!"

Alku cut down a few combat droids with his lightsaber and forced his way toward her through a group of clones.

"I know, but it's only a matter of time." he said confidently, "I mean, we just heard that Grievous was killed recently, and without him the droid armies should fall any time soon."

"I hope you're right." said Moona.

As they slowly advanced forward, Alku took out his comlink to contact the commander of their clone squad.

"What is it, sir?" asked the voice of the commander from the comlink.

"What is the status of the droid army now?"

"Well, they are starting to fall back, but . . ."

Before the clone could finish his sentence, the sound of another signal transmission interrupted him.

"The time has come." said a voice that sounded like Chancellor Palpatine's, "Execute Order 66."

The clone's voice responded "It will be done, my lord." and the signal turned off. Alku and Moona looked at each other.

"Order what?" asked Alku. Moona shrugged, looking equally confused.

Then a clone next to them turned and raised his rifle directly at them. Before the clone could fire, Alku used his lightsaber to cut the rifle in half. The clone turned to his comrades and shouted "Kill them!"

Alku and Moona ran away from them as fast as they could go. The clone squad pursued them, firing as they came. Alku and Moona used their lightsabers to deflect some of the bolts back at the clones as they continued to run. After a few minutes, they reached a forest and ran into its depths. Once hidden in the foliage, they force jumped into one of the trees. As they looked down from the branch they had retreated to, the clones ran past right underneath them and disappeared further into the forest.

As the sound of the clone's footsteps faded away, Alku looked over at Moona and said "What the heck just happened?"

"I don't know. But it's obvious that the clones have rebelled against us." said Moona. "Yeah, I got that part. But wasn't it the chancellor who ordered our execution? Why would he do that?"

"I don't know. Maybe the council was right. Maybe he has turned against and betrayed the Jedi."

"I can't believe that, but nothing else makes sense with what happened either."

They fell silent for a while.

"We're going to have to find someplace to hide from the clones until they give up searching for us." said Moona finally.

"_If _they give up searching for us." Alku added darkly, "But, hiding aside, what are we going to do?"

Moona just stared ahead, unable to think of anything to say. The only thing she did know was that their lives were about to become much more difficult then they ever could have imagined.


	2. The Beginning: Chapter One

Chapter One

On the planet Mustafar, Darth Vader, once known as Anakin Skywalker, is lying on a cliff overlooking a molten river of lava. The aftermath of the lightsaber duel that had taken place not too long ago had left him exhausted and injured to nearly the point of death. Almost every part of him had been severely burned, so he could not see or properly register anything happening around him.

He thought he heard a ship approaching and landing in the distance. He heard distant muffled shouting, then somebody feeling his forehead gently. Then as he felt himself being lifted off the charred, rocky ground and lowered onto a stretcher, several random images shot into his head, similar to the visions he had had about his wife's childbirth.

He saw a man dressed in a black cape and what looked like a battle helmet engaged in a lightsaber duel with someone who had long brown hair, was wearing a black robe over a Jedi tunic, and was wielding a purple lightsaber blade. He recognized Moona Jonstone immediately. She was one of the Jedi Knights that had been sent to protect the planet Nagob from invasion. As he watched, Jonstone cut down the man in black. He collapsed to the ground, clearly dead.

Then as he felt a downpour of cold raindrops descending onto his burned up features, Vader saw a young man wearing a black outfit and cape with brown hair. His lightsaber blade was green. This had to be Alku Justina, Jonstone's partner. They both dressed differently from the other Jedi, instead of the usual brown robes. They kind of chose their own dress code, like he used to. Justina was facing off with Palpatine on a platform in the rain somewhere. As he watched, a red bladed lightsaber flew into view and struck Palpatine in the chest. Palpatine fell backward off the platform and out of sight.

Then as he was being strapped to a surgical table and medical droids swarmed all around him, he saw Jonstone again, but she looked a lot older. She was standing with a green alien creature with what looked like stone bumps running up its thumbs, arms and neck in a bright white room somewhere.

As this vision faded away, he moaned in pain as the droids operated on him. After what felt like an eternity of painful hours, he saw something being lowered to his face: A black mass of metal. It connected to his face and he found it much easier to breath.

Then as the table he was on tilted downward, so that he was now facing forward instead of up, he heard Palpatine's voice say "Lord Vader? Can you hear me?"

Vader decided to keep his premonitions to himself for the moment. He responded "Yes, master." Then he remembered his wife. He looked over at Palpatine and asked him whether she was alright. Palpatine explained that she had been killed by his anger. Vader moaned in agony for several minutes and wrecked the medical equipment with the force.

A few hours later, after viewing the beginning construction of the Empire's new space station, the Death Star, he sat in his quarters. After thinking for a while, he realized now that he is the man in black who gets killed in his premonition and if he dies, apparently Palpatine will die too, then the Empire would be destroyed and the Jedi would probably be reborn. He knew now that he had to find a way to keep himself from dying somehow . . .


	3. The Beginning: Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Nagob was completely silent. The war was over, so the fighting had stopped. Nothing was moving except spirals of smoke unfurling from the battle damaged scenery.

Inside a cave, Alku Justina and Moona Jonstone are crouched down, listening to the silence outside.

"Do you think it's safe for us to go out there now?" asked Alku.

Moona lifted her head up cautiously to see out of the cave.

"I think so. I'm pretty sure the clones have given up searching for us by now."

"Okay, but we still have to find our star fighters to get back to Coruscant so we can find out what is happening and why the clones rebelled against us." said Alku, standing up.

They emerged out of the cave and looked around. It was night. The scenery was smoldering and battle damaged wherever they looked.

"So what do we do first?" asked Moona.

Alku took out his comlink.

"I'll try to contact Coruscant. We need to tell them about the clones trying to assassinate us."

He activated it. They waited, but there was no response.

"We must be too far away for our signal to reach the planet." said Alku bitterly, "I guess this means we're on our own."

Suddenly, a laser bolt flew past Alku's head. He and Moona turned around. Five Clone troopers were standing a few feet away, aiming their rifles at them.

"Not anymore." Moona muttered to him.

They ignited their lightsabers. The clones began to fire at them. Alku and Moona spun their blades through the air, catching most of the bolts and repelling them back at the clones. But the clones kept swerving aside, so that the bolts kept missing them.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Alku shouted over the sounds of blasters going off and the humming of their lightsabers, "We can't take on all of them forever!"

"You're right. Let's go!" said Moona, turning and running back toward the cave they were just in, Alku following her.

The clones ran after them, still firing at them as they went. Alku and Moona continued to run, occasionally deflected some more bolts back at the clones pursuing them. As they ran into the depths of the cave, there was a rumbling sound behind them. They turned to see rocks falling from the ceiling of the cave, blocking the exit and preventing the clones from following them inside. Apparently, some of the clone's bolts had hit the top of the cave, causing some of the rocks in the ceiling to collapse.

"Great. Now we're trapped in here." said Alku.

"Well, on the bright side, the clones can't get to us now." said Moona, "But how did they find us?"

"I bet they detected the signal my comlink set off and traced it back to our location. They must have known that we would try that."

"Yeah. I bet you're right. But how do we get out of here?"

"Well, we can't blow the rocks away, because the clones are probably still waiting for us on the other side."

After looking around, they realized now that the cave they were in wasn't a cave at all. It was the entrance to a stone tunnel.

"Well, it looks like our only option is to follow this tunnel and see if there's another way out." said Moona.

She walked forward, raising her lightsaber so it's purple light shone into the darkness ahead. Alku followed her, adding his green blade's light to hers.

"But even if we do find a way out of here, how are we supposed to get back to Coruscant? More clones are probably going to be sent here to try to kill us."

Moona looked over at him and said grimly "I think we're just going to have to wait until we get there to find out."


	4. The Beginning: Chapter Three

Chapter Three

On a Star Destroyer in space, Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, and Governor Wilhuff Tarkin are sitting around a conference table. Palpatine is speaking to the other two.

"Now, listen. I will be going away to the outer rim for a few days on personal business. I have found a substitute emperor to fill in for me while I am gone. He was not my best option, but compared to the rest of the idiots who turned up . . . anyway, I will be sending messages to our substitute emperor as well as you both. The three of you will co-lead the Empire until I return. Any questions?"

He glared at Vader and Tarkin.

Tarkin got up, cleared his throat and said "Emperor, there is no need to be concerned. With myself and Lord Vader in charge of the Empire, nothing can go wrong."

"Maybe so, Tarkin. But you still haven't found where any surviving Jedi are hiding, have you?"

Tarkin hesitated, then responded "I assure you, we are doing the best we can to locate them. We have Probe droids searching all over the galaxy. We will find them soon, right Vader? Vader?"

He and Palpatine turned to look at Vader. He is sitting in his chair, with his hands folded and seemingly deep in thought.

"Were you even listening to me?" asked Palpatine.

Vader unfolded his hands and raised his head.

"Yes I was, master." he said, "But I have been under great turmoil lately. When you rescued me from Mustafar, I had some strange visions. I am sure they were about the future. They included two surviving Jedi. Their names are Alku Justina and Moona Jonstone, I believe. According to my visions, they will destroy us both, overpower the Empire and recreate the Jedi Order."

Palpatine and Tarkin stared at him.

After a while, Palpatine said "Tarkin, please leave me and Lord Vader alone for a minute."

Tarkin nodded and left. Palpatine turned to Vader.

"If what you told me is true, then we must think of a way to protect ourselves."

"Yes, I have also come to the same solution, master." said Vader, "Do you have any ideas?"

Palpatine thought for a moment, then he said "I know of a clone maker named Joseph Zograf. He is intelligent enough to make clones for both of us and he has devoted years of his life to studying the ways of the Sith, so he is a capable fighter as well, so that he can protect his creations."

"I see, but if we do accept this Zograf, wouldn't people notice if our clones act differently from ourselves?"

"I assure you, he is an excellent clone maker and he is well trained in the ways of the Sith. He has made some tiny errors before, but they usually aren't that easy to identify. But for now, I want you to seek out those two Jedi you mentioned and kill them to ensure that there are no more risks of the Jedi being reborn."

Vader stood up, bowed his head to Palpatine, then strode out of the room. Palpatine pressed a button on the arm of his chair and spoke into a speaker next to it.

"Commander, ready my shuttle for departure."

"Yes sir." said a voice from the speaker.

Palpatine stood up.

"Lord Vader does not need to know that I already have clones of my own." he thought to himself, "And besides, the more clones I have, the better _my_ chances of living longer are."

With that, he walked out of the conference room toward the hangar bay to board his shuttle.


	5. The Beginning: Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Vader strode into the Star Destroyer's main hangar bay and found a group of Clone troopers and two Imperial officers waiting for him.

The officer on the right, named Avery Contra, was a male with black hair and a goatee.

The officer on the left, named Anga Nicma, was a female with long black hair and bangs.

As Vader approached, the clones and the male officer saluted respectfully, but the female officer just scowled. Vader stopped in front of them.

"What is the situation, sir?" asked Contra.

"I have been ordered to eliminate two Jedi on the planet Nagob. Contra, you and this clone squad will accompany me there."

"Oh, does this mean I get to fight?" asked Contra eagerly.

"No. You are going to pilot the shuttle. That is all."

Contra grimaced with anger, but then bowed to Vader respectfully and boarded the shuttle behind him.

A clone wearing the colors of a commander approached Vader.

"What is it Mach?" asked Vader.

"What about her?" asked Mach, gesturing at Nicma.

"She is staying here."

"Why is that, exactly?"

The tone in Nicma's voice made it very clear that she had an intense hatred of Vader, and Vader's reply indicated equal hatred.

"Because you are not experienced enough, and to be honest, I just don't trust you."

"But Contra has just as much experience as me."

Vader waved at the clones to board the shuttle. After they had disappeared, Vader turned to Nicma.

"Don't act like this is all about you personally. I don't trust anyone in the Empire, not even the Emperor himself."

Nicma raised her eyebrows.

"Well, if you don't trust him, why do you take orders from him?"

"For the same reason you used to take orders from me." said Vader, lowering his voice, "He is my master."

"You are not my master anymore."

"Hence my use of the words _used_ _to_ take orders from me." said Vader, "But despite that, you are still required to follow my orders as I am your superior."

Nicma rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, because you treat me like someone who deserves to obey your orders."

Vader apparently couldn't think of a smart comeback for her, so he just said "Wait here for us. Until I return, you take your orders from Tarkin. The Emperor is going on a leave of absence. Do you understand?"

Nicma sprang to a very over enthusiastic salute.

"Yes _sir_." she said, with as much contempt on the word 'sir' as she could.

Vader turned and boarded the shuttle. He sat down next to Contra, who was piloting the ship.

"Sir? May I ask what the deal is between you and Nicma?" he asked tentatively.

Vader turned to look at him.

"She is just incompetent. I had to talk some sense into her."

"Oh, okay." said Contra, turning back to the controls, not wanting to push his luck by asking Vader more about this topic.

Contra had always suspected that Vader and Nicma had some secret between them. They seemed to have a lot of secret meetings and expressed a lot of hatred for each other. Although, Contra himself did not like Vader either. It was only out of fear that he never expressed his actual feelings toward him. True, Vader mistreats anyone he meets except for the Emperor, but particularly Nicma, and himself to a lesser extent, always seemed to upset Vader no matter what they did. But unlike Nicma, Contra never deliberately upset Vader. He always acted loyal toward Vader, but always got the same treatment.

"I'll do something about it someday." he thought to himself as he lifted the shuttle off the ground and out into space.


	6. The Beginning: Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Alku and Moona continued to walk along the tunnel with their lightsabers providing some light for them to see ahead. After about thirty minutes of walking, they emerged into a huge courtyard full of wild vines and exotic looking plant life.

"Um, why is there a courtyard in this cave?" asked Alku.

"I think this is an example of the random changes this planet goes through." said Moona, "We should look around and see if there is anything else in here."

They walked slowly into the wide room, looking left and right.

There was a huge sunroof in the ceiling, apparently for the plants. Also, there was a stone staircase that led up to a stone balcony overlooking the courtyard, held up by stone pillars.

"I've never seen plants like these before, not even in the temple." said Alku as they began to examine the plants.

"I don't like the looks of this one." said Moona, examining a big dark red plant with long feelers covered in thin spikes.

She turned to Alku, who was examining a tree covered in large orange flowers "We'd better move on. I don't think anything in here is too dangerous."

Alku turned from the tree and followed her further into the room. They kept moving through the plants until they found the entrance to another tunnel.

"Okay, let's see where this one goes." said Moona, leading the way into the new tunnel.

"You know, I actually don't think we can go back to Coruscant." said Alku as they walked, "I mean, if Palpatine has betrayed the Jedi, then we would be going right where he is, wouldn't we?"

"Yeah, I know." said Moona, "But it's also our home. Where else can we go?"

"That's my point. I don't know." said Alku.

"But there has to be some place where we . . ."

She stopped so suddenly, Alku bumped into her.

"Ow! What is it?" he asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"Runcock." she said quietly.

"Huh? What about him?" asked Alku.

"He was sent to De Vun, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, I think so. Why?"

"We should try to find him. He will have better ideas on what we can do."

"Okay, but what if he's . . . not there?" said Alku carefully.

Moona paused.

"We'll decide on that if the situation calls for it." she said finally.

They continued walking silently for another twenty minutes or so until they turned a corner and saw light coming from an opening at the end of the tunnel.

"Yes! We've made it." said Alku, speeding up.

"Wait." said Moona, "Something doesn't feel right."

At that moment, four rayshields appeared around them, boxing them in-between them.

"Ray shields." said Moona, sighing, "I told you something didn't feel right. Now we've been captured."

"But the Clones wouldn't have had time to install ray shields into cave walls by themselves unless . . ."

At that moment, the light from the exit was blocked by a swarm of people coming into the tunnel. At least twelve Clone troopers were revealed coming into the tunnel, escorting something that looked like a huge, rippling black shadow. All they could see at first were glowing lights emanating from the figure until the shimmering light from the ray shields reflected off of it as it approached.

It was a human form dressed in shining black armor. The battle helmet it wore looked very unusual. It had a monstrous, deadly look about it that couldn't be explained in any simpler words. The figure looked as though it had some robotical attachments added on to it, which made it about six feet tall at least. The sound it made as it breathed was unnaturally creepy, almost like the sound of death itself.

It was Darth Vader.


	7. The Beginning: Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Inside the tunnel, Vader approached the two trapped Jedi in the ray shields.

"Ah, yes. Alku Justina. Moona Jonstone. I have been expecting you."

They looked at Vader in confusion. They, of course, had not heard of Anakin Skywalker's turn to the dark side, having been on Nagob since General Grievous had been reported dead.

"Who are you?" asked Alku slowly.

"Yes, of course. You two simpletons wouldn't know who I am yet, would you?" said Vader smugly.

"Stop with the funny business and tell us who you are!" said Moona forcefully.

Vader continued to address them without answering their question.

"You two are to be escorted back to my shuttle, where you will be delivered to the Emperor."

"Uh, we can't Lord Vader." said one of the clones, "The way we came in is blocked. You told us to barricade it to make sure those two couldn't escape, remember?"

Vader sighed and said "Very well. Then you will be escorted in the other direction."

"But couldn't you move the rocks away or something?" asked another clone.

"No, because if I knock down the rocks, more than likely the tunnel will cave in and we will be trapped in here forever." said Vader.

"Can't we just contact Contra in the shuttle and have him remove the rocks?" asked Mach, who was just behind Vader.

"No, because, like I said before, it is too dangerous to remove the rocks in case the tunnel caves in."

Vader turned back to Alku and Moona.

"But you can't go that way either." said Alku, "There's no way out at that end."

"Really? Then how did you two get in here if you came from that direction?" asked Vader menacingly, "Don't try to trick your way into escaping. There is no escaping me. Since you have now been captured, I can finally take you in."

"But why are you so interested in us?" asked Moona.

"Not you, particularly. We are merely attempting to get rid of every Jedi left in the galaxy. However, I have knowledge that you two play a major and fatal part in the resulted end of the Sith, so I will take you to the Emperor, so he can decide your fates personally."

"But none of this makes any sense. Get rid of every Jedi? That's impossible. Who are you anyway?" said Alku desperately.

At that moment, a red lightsaber blade shone out of the darkness of Vader's cape.

"A Sith!" Moona exclaimed.

"I am second only to the Emperor in power." said Vader, "He had always planned to overthrow the Republic and rebuild it as the Empire."

"What?" exclaimed Alku and Moona together.

"When did all this happen?" asked Moona exasperated.

"Just after we did what you called the impossible, in other words, killed every single Jedi in the galaxy."

Alku and Moona stared at Vader horrified, their worst suspicions confirmed.

"Now, to answer your first question, I am Darth Vader. I became the Emperor's apprentice after my former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, almost killed me on Mustafar. Then I was restored and sent to kill all remaining Jedi that threaten the Empire."

"But . . ." stuttered Alku numbly, "That means you're . . ."

"Anakin Skywalker does not exist anymore. I am Darth Vader now."

Vader waved at the Clone troopers to lower the ray shields and take Alku and Moona hostage.

"Follow me." said Vader to the clones as he turned and walked back along the tunnel.

With the clone's rifles pointing at their backs, Alku and Moona had no choice but to follow him, with the Clone troopers following close behind them.


	8. The Beginning: Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

After a few minutes, they reached the courtyard full of plants and vines again. Vader strode across the room, raised his ignited lightsaber, and cut through the plants blocking his way. The clones were having a hard time getting through the plants and aiming their guns at Alku and Moona at the same time. The Jedi decided to take advantage of the trooper's difficulty to strike back. They glanced at each other, nodded, then acted.

Alku activated his lightsaber, which was still attached to his belt and aimed at one of the clone's legs. The green blade sheared through the trooper's leg as though it was made of Styrofoam. A split second after the trooper cried out in pain, Moona was soaring through the air, taking off the heads of three of the troopers and cutting two more at the waist. Alku cut off the head of the trooper he had just stabbed, then leapt into the air and slashed at the other five, so they collapsed to the ground.

Before the last body had hit the ground, Alku and Moona landed back to back, facing Vader and Mach, who had stopped when they heard the ruckus behind them.

Vader was not surprised. He had expected something like this to happen. He knew, since Mach would likely be killed right away, that it would be him against them at last.

Vader moved forward, lightsaber raised. But then another lightsaber activated behind him. Vader turned to see Mach holding a blue colored blade in his hand.

"Where did you get that from?" asked Vader suspiciously.

"Remember that little mission I pulled off years ago? Well, in exchange for that favor, a Jedi gave me this lightsaber and he taught me how to use it!"

"I shall arrange your punishment for working behind me and the Emperor's backs after they are dead." said Vader severely.

But Mach wasn't listening. He had charged at Alku who, caught by surprise, had to duck to avoid the blow at his neck.

On the other side of the room, Moona had lunged at Vader and caught him off guard. Vader flipped over to avoid losing his arm and jumped forward for a new attack. Moona caught Vader's blade with her own, then swung it back to slash at his chest. Vader blocked the strike, then flew forward and kicked Moona in the face with his foot. But Moona simply let Vader's foot propel her into the air, so she flipped over him and landed behind him. Vader turned quickly.

"You are talented, but not powerful."

Then he twitched his hand at one of the stone pillars next to them, supporting the ramp that overlooked the courtyard. The pillar toppled over and fell toward them. Vader leapt out of the way, but Moona stood her ground. She raised her blade and spun it in a circle over her head with the blade facing upward. When the pillar fell on top of her, the blade cut a hole into it, so that when it landed, Moona stood unscathed in the middle of the hole she had made in the pillar.

"Impressive." said Vader, striding forward as Moona climbed out of the hole in the pillar, "You've shown that you can control your fear. But there is still time for anger and hatred to settle in."

She didn't respond, but twitched her hand at him. Vader turned to see the spiky red plant Moona had been examining earlier moving toward him with its feelers outstretched. He swung his blade at it lazily, cutting off a few of it's feelers before slashing at its stem, so it fell to the ground.

"Not a very promising attempt." he said, turning from it and advancing on Moona, "Now let's finish this."


	9. The Beginning: Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Alku and Mach continued to slash and spin at each other. Their battle had moved them up the stone stairway until they emerged onto the balcony overlooking the courtyard. Glancing over the edge, Alku guessed it was about a 40 foot drop.

As Mach charged at him, Alku moved aside so Mach's blade sank into the floor of the balcony. The balcony, already unstable because one of the supports had been used in Moona and Vader's duel, began to wobble dangerously. Then they lost their balance and fell over the edge. Alku grabbed onto the railing with one hand. Mach tried to grab Alku's foot on the way down, but he missed and fell toward the mass of plants below. As Alku watched, Mach landed on a dark blue plant with suckers. The suckers connected to Mach's body and he was sucked into it.

Alku dropped from the railing in a force leap and landed cat-like on the ground next to the blue plant, which made a burping noise as he ran toward Moona and Vader, who were fighting fiercely. Seeing Alku approaching, Vader thrust out his hand and Mach's lightsaber flew across the room into it as he joined them. He swung at Alku with one arm and Moona with the other until Alku's blade sliced Mach's lightsaber hilt in half. Vader dropped it and backed off.

They stood side by side facing him, blades poised in front of them. Vader looked at them, considering his next move and who would be the best to strike down first. He sensed more power and ability in Jonstone. He would kill her first.

He appeared to charge toward Alku and as Alku left his guard to block him, Vader swerved at Moona instead. But she was already gone. Vader looked around the room while Alku recovered from his blunder. Alku knew where Moona was and what she was planning. He jumped into the air over Vader's head and Vader raised his blade up to catch him while he was in the air, just as Moona had hoped he would do.

While Vader's arm was still raised, Moona leapt off the crumbling balcony she had retreated to and flew down toward Vader. Her blade cut through Vader's right arm while it was still raised in the air to get Alku on the way down.

As Vader's severed arm fell to the ground, Alku landed next to Moona, lightsaber pointing at Vader's neck as he fell down next to his arm.

"If you surrender now, no more harm will come to you. Otherwise we'll kill you right here."

Vader thought to himself, "This is not the scene I saw of myself dying in my premonition, so I must not die at this point in time."

He realized that he could escape; this time.

He suddenly kicked out at Alku's lightsaber and it was knocked out of his hand into Moona's and both fell to the ground. Vader stood up and faced them, with his lightsaber now in his left hand.

"I understand that I cannot kill you today, but I will soon."

Then he force leapt into the air onto the balcony, which buckled under his weight. Then as it finally collapsed, Vader leapt off it, broke through the sunroof and disappeared. Alku looked over at Moona.

"Well, you can't say that wasn't entertaining."

"This isn't good. Now Vader is going to track us down and try to kill us."

"Well, like he said, it's not over yet. We can still kill him."

"Yes, but he also knows he is in danger of being killed. Surely he'll do something about it."

"Like what?" asked Alku, "What can he do?"

"Well, he has the whole Republic at his command and he can have premonitions, so I'd say he's pretty much capable of doing anything. We'll just have to wait and find out what he does next."

She looked up at the hole in the sunroof where Vader had escaped.

"This is just the beginning."


	10. Monster of Nagob: Chapter One

Chapter One

In the throne room of one of Emperor Palpatine's Imperial palaces on Coruscant, there is a thin man with a scruffy face and brown curly hair sitting in the large throne in the middle of the room, looking bored. As he exhaled loudly, the double doors at the end of the room opened. The man sat up quickly and made a look of focused attention as Darth Vader strode into the room.

"Oh, Lord Vader!" the man exclaimed, standing up quickly and tripping over his long black robe, stumbling forward. Vader snorted with disgust.

"Honestly, Jinx! How you ended up becoming our substitute emperor, I have no idea."

"Sorry Lord Vader." said the man called Jinx.

Vader ignored Jinx's apology and continued "Since you are new here, I must bring you up to speed on our current situation. I will be going away on a mission to hunt down Jonstone and Justina soon, and I am to introduce you to one of your superiors."

Vader stepped aside and revealed another figure standing behind him: Tarkin.

"Who's this?" asked Jinx.

"I am Wilhuff Tarkin, head Moff officer of the Empire." said Tarkin in a superior voice.

"Oh. So you're Palpatine's suck up I've been hearing about." said Jinx snidely.

"How dare you!" said Tarkin, puffing himself up indignantly, "Who are you to insult _me_? And I believe we should look at who is talking. You seem no smarter than a space slug!"

Jinx advanced on Tarkin.

"Well then, how come _I'm _the emperor and _you're_ only an officer?" he retorted.

Vader made a fist. Jinx gagged and put both hands around his throat, sinking to his knees.

"Remember Jinx, you are not in charge of Tarkin or myself unless the _real _Emperor commands it. Your instructions were to co-lead the palace with myself and Tarkin. If you show any sign of insubordination again, I will have you sent to work in the garbage disposal section instead. Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes, sir." Jinx gasped.

Vader lowered his fist and Jinx collapsed to the floor, coughing rapidly.

Vader continued as though nothing had happened "Now, the Emperor has set up a plan to kill Jonstone and Justina. You two are to stay in the palace. I'm on my way to destroy Scrapater first, then hunt down the Jedi ."

"Why are you destroying Scrapater?" asked Jinx, as he got to his feet unsteadily.

"Because the Emperor commands it."

"But there isn't enough firepower in a shuttle to destroy a whole planet." said Jinx knowledgably.

Vader sighed with exasperation.

"If you had any brains in that thick head of yours, you would know that Scrapater is a small moon, so it will not be that difficult to destroy."

Vader turned and walked back down the room.

"I will return later." he added as he left, closing the double doors behind him.

As Vader walked into the hangar bay toward his shuttle, he wondered what Palpatine was thinking. Why didn't he just leave command to himself and Tarkin? Why was he including Jinx in this at all? He knew he must not let stuff like that worry him, but he still couldn't help questioning why Palpatine kept his plan a secret from him. He wondered how this all included finding Jonstone and Justina. But then, maybe it didn't at all. Maybe it was all just a ruse to distract everyone from something else Palpatine was up to. He did not know what to think. The only thing he did know was that he had been ordered to destroy Scrapater and that is what he should do now.


	11. Monster of Nagob: Chapter Two

Chapter Two

On the planet De Vun, three individuals are gathered inside a cave. Alku Justina and Moona Jonstone are sitting opposite a man in brown Jedi robes, with brown-grey hair tied into a ponytail, and a beard. This is Alastair Runcock: A Jedi Master who is also on the run from the Empire. He was Moona's Jedi mentor as well.

"It is very good to see you two again." said Runcock, "I was afraid you two were killed during the purge."

"Yeah, we thought the same about you too." said Moona, "Do you know if anyone else survived?"

"Not that I know of." Runcock said reluctantly.

"What did you want to discuss with us?" asked Alku.

Runcock took a deep breath, then said "Remember you told me that you recently faced Darth Vader and a Clone trooper with a lightsaber on Nagob?"

"Yeah." said Alku slowly.

"Well, I'm afraid the person who trained him was me."

"What?" said Alku and Moona together.

"Yes. You see, he was responsible for my second padawan after you, Moona. He found her and brought her back to Coruscant for me to train. So, I repaid him by teaching him Jedi reflexes."

"You never told me you had another padawan." said Moona skeptically.

"I'm sorry. I didn't tell you because it was very recently. Her name was Anga Nicma."

"What do you mean 'was'?" asked Alku.

"She betrayed me."

"Why?" asked Moona.

"I had left her to stay in the Jedi Temple while I was on a mission. When I came back, the temple had already been attacked and she was gone. I interrogated a Clone trooper who had stayed in the temple and he told me that she assisted Vader in wiping out the rest of the Jedi in the temple. I jumped a ship and escaped to this planet not long afterward. I've been hiding here ever since. I don't know why she would do that."

Moona looked shocked and sympathetic. Alku shook his head in bewilderment.

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea." said Moona quietly.

Runcock shook his head vigorously.

"Forget about it. There's something more important that I need to tell you."

"What is it?" asked Alku.

"Well, there is something vandalizing the planet Nagob. Some people call it the Monster of Nagob. Some of the remaining residents there have been killed by it."

"But we were just there! When did it get there?" asked Alku exasperatedly.

"A few days ago. A Star Destroyer had crashed there not long before the sightings. It's possible that it's an escaped experiment of the Empire's that went horribly wrong."

"Okay, but what do you want us to do about it?" asked Alku, knowing the answer already.

"You must go there and stop it." said Runcock.

"Figured as much." said Moona.

They got up and emerged out of the cave. Alku and Moona's Jedi starfighters, which they found shortly after defeating Vader, were parked outside along with their two Astromech droids, R6-P9 and R5-X7. R5 and Alku's ship were both Emerald. R6 was pink and Moona's ship was turquoise.

"You'd better get going." said Runcock, "The longer it takes you to get there, the more damage it might cause."

Moona looked over at him. "So, you're not coming with us?"

Runcock shook his head.

"If we stay together, Vader can find us quicker. I can manage on my own anyway. But you two need to stay together if you hope to survive."

They hesitated, then got into their ships and fired up the engines.

Moona shouted over her engine, "Master Runcock! What does the thing we're tracking look like?"

"It's too hard to explain! When you see it, you'll know!"

Then both ships hovered off the ground and disappeared into the sky.


	12. Monster of Nagob: Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Vader walked up to the commander of the shuttle he had boarded.

"Commander, how long is the distance to Scrapater?"

The commander looked terrified at the sight of Vader's boots, which was where his gaze was.

"Uh, it, um, it's about twenty five minutes away sir."

"Is the main gun all charged up?" Vader asked the shivering commander.

"Uh, um, yes sir." he responded shakily.

"Good. Now prepare for take off."

"Y-yes sir." said the commander and he hurried toward the cockpit. Vader started to follow him, but then his comlink buzzed. He took it out and activated it.

"Yes?"

"Lord Vader." said the voice of one of the officers in the palace, "The Emperor has ordered you to a different mission. The two Jedi Knights you're looking for have been spotted heading toward Nagob."

"Tell him I am switching shuttles now." said Vader.

"Yes sir."

Vader put away his comlink and left the shuttle he was just in, heading toward a similar shuttle right next to it. The only person in there was Anga Nicma. Vader sighed despairingly.

"Oh, great." she said with equal despair as she saw him.

Vader just grunted and said "Are we all set for takeoff?"

"Yes." said Nicma coldly.

They went into the cockpit and strapped themselves in.

"Follow the other shuttle. I want to supervise Scrapater's destruction before I go to Nagob." Vader said to Nicma.

"Fine, whatever." she said carelessly.

Then as their shuttle took off, she asked "Why are we destroying a moon anyway?"

Vader sighed again.

"Are you trying to contradict the Emperor's orders?"

"No. I was just asking a question. That's not against the law now, is it?"

Vader muttered something incoherent.

After a while, he activated his comlink again.

"Commander, have all the troops been assembled?"

"Yes sir." said the voice of another officer in the palace.

"Good. Get ready to set them loose on Nagob to find Jonstone and Justina. Once the Scrapater moon has been destroyed, I will join them to finish off the Jedi."

"Yes sir."

Vader put away the comlink, sat back in his chair, and sighed.

"What's with you now?" asked Nicma.

Vader looked around at her.

"It's none of your business. It is between myself and the Emperor."

"Actually, I think it is my business. I'm the one who is trapped in this position with you."

"Unless you can show me more respect, I'll kill you right here." said Vader.

Nicma snorted "I could defeat you easily if I wanted to. I can manage."

Vader grunted and leaned back into his chair. He could not understand what was going on today: First Jinx is elected as emperor for a day, then he is teamed up with Nicma for no reason at all. Palpatine knew of the grudge between them. Why would he team them up? Unless . . . no, there was no way that Palpatine could know. It was impossible. Vader had never shared this particular bit of information with anyone. But then, Palpatine is one of the most powerful and intelligent people in the galaxy. But even if Palpatine did know, Vader was sure he wouldn't be lectured for it. Palpatine surely would have spoken to him about it if he knew. But he decided he would worry about that later. Right now his job was to destroy Scrapater, then find Jonstone and Justina and kill them for good.


	13. Monster of Nagob: Chapter Four

Chapter Four

As their star fighters soared through space, Moona thought about Vader and what he would do to them next. She did not understand what could have made him turn to the dark side. She knew he had had a strong friendship with Palpatine. Maybe he had something to do with it. The Vader she knew before wouldn't turn evil willingly. It would be painful to kill someone she already knew. But Anakin Skywalker no longer exists. Now he is just an evil minion of Palpatine's. He had to be stopped.

"Hey Moona." said Alku's voice from her radio, "Did Runcock ever tell you what that monster we're supposed to be hunting looks like?"

"Well, I asked him, but he said it was too hard to explain. He said if we saw it, we would know."

"It sounds like this thing is unusual looking, like it would draw a lot of attention to itself."

"Well, we can start looking soon. Look down there. It's Nagob."

The grey and green planet came slowly into view. From their viewpoint, it looked totally different than it really did on the surface. Their ships entered the atmosphere of the planet and touched down on the landing platform belonging to a sort of motel structure, complete with bar and medical center.

"Man, this planet has changed since we were here last, hasn't it?" said Alku, looking around.

"The planet changes all the time, remember? That's why it used to be so popular." said Moona, getting out of her ship.

Leaving their droids with the ships, they started to walk around and examine the surrounding area.

They walked around the motel and found a field of "Snow?" said Alku in confusion, "Why is there snow here? The planet never gets that cold."

"I think it's snow fit for the atmosphere, it's not cold." Moona explained as she scooped up a handful of the snow and examined it.

"But who ever heard of warm snow?"

At that moment, they heard something growl in the distance.

"Did you hear that?" asked Alku, looking around.

Moona dropped the snow in her hand and stared around too.

"Yeah. Do you think it was that monster?"

"Probably. Let's check it out."

They cautiously moved forward into the distance. Then suddenly, a tall, dark shape appeared a few feet in front of them.

"Look. What's that thing?" asked Alku, pointing at it.

As it got closer, it growled again.

"It's the monster." said Moona, taking her lightsaber off her belt, "It's got to be."

The shape blundered toward them, growling. Then it was close enough for them to see it properly, and they saw . . .

"What the hell is that thing?" asked Alku.

The Monster of Nagob didn't look frightening, more like a very tall man with many mental problems. Its eyes were large, round, and stared without blinking. It had shoulder length tangled black hair and its mouth drooped as though it was full of Novocain. Its body was half covered in rags that were covered in grass stains, dirt, and what looked like blood. It stood there and drooled, staring at them as though it didn't know what they were.

"Okay, I've got a plan." whispered Moona.

Then her purple lightsaber blade ignited, followed directly by Alku's emerald one and they charged forward. They swung their blades at random places on its body, but no injuries appeared.

"Our lightsabers aren't having any effect on it!" yelled Alku as the monster backed away, flailing its arms around in panic.

"Okay, better plan!" said Moona, backing off.

"What?"

"Run!"

They turned and sprinted away as the monster howled after them.


	14. Monster of Nagob: Chapter Five

Chapter Five

The explosion of Scrapater lit the shuttle with a huge, bright light. Vader sighed with satisfaction, then turned to Nicma.

"Now that that is done, tell the other shuttle to return to Coruscant and head our shuttle toward Nagob now."

"Fine." said Nicma curtly.

She turned back to the controls as Vader got up out of his seat and walked out of the cockpit.

As he walked, he said to himself, "I sense Jonstone and Justina there already. Now I will finally be able to hunt them down and destroy them for good."

He stopped walking.

"Well, I suppose now is the time to inform Tarkin on our situation."

He took out his comlink.

At that moment, Tarkin was pacing around the throne room when his comlink buzzed. He took it out and answered "Yes?"

"Where is Jinx?" said Vader's voice from the comlink.

"He's feeding his fish upstairs." said Tarkin.

"Good. I don't want him interrupting this. I want you to go to the room two doors over. I want you to meet Zograf. He will explain everything when you get there."

"Very well." said Tarkin.

He put away his comlink and strode out of the double doors into the narrow hallway, turned left and walked toward the door two over from the throne room. A sign on the door said "Office of Joseph C. Zograf" He opened the door and found himself in a huge room full of what looked like clone tanks. There was a man at the end of the room reading a data screen on a computer.

"Zograf?" Tarkin asked as he closed the door behind him.

The other man turned around. He was wearing black robes and a battle helmet similar to Vader's.

"Yes?"

"What is this place? Why was I not aware of it?"

"You are now only the fourth person to know about this room." said a voice from the shadows. Out of it came . . .

"Vader?" asked Tarkin, surprised, "But . . ."

"I am the real Vader." Vader said to Tarkin, "I am staying in here until I have to reveal myself or if my clones run out."

"Clones? So the you on the way to Nagob with Nicma is a clone?"

"Yes." said Vader.

"And you are going to use these clones to protect yourself?"

"Yes." said Vader again, "All my clones think like me, are as strong as me and have all of my extra attachments as well. The same is true for the Emperor. He thought you should be put in the loop of things by now."

"But how come I don't have any clones?" asked Tarkin.

"Because it's a very expensive procedure." said Zograf, "It's not easy to make clones, you know."

"And since you aren't in danger of death all the time and we can only afford to make a select few, the Emperor singled out himself and me." finished Vader.

"But the Clone troopers are clones."

"The Clone troopers are developed on Kamino, not by Zograf here." said Vader, "And since they are not exact matches of Jango Fett, it is not as expensive a procedure."

"Yes. Well, thank you for the update." said Tarkin curtly.

He turned and strode out into the hallway again.

As he walked down a hallway full of statues of Palpatine, Tarkin thought to himself, "If what Vader said is true, then his clones act exactly like the real one does and clones can be made on Kamino. So if I take one of Vader's clones from Zograf and reprogram it to obey me and persuade the clone makers on Kamino to make myself clones and have them made to act exactly like me, then I can be as safe as Vader or Palpatine without causing extra expenses for the Empire! All I need to do is find some time to visit Kamino."


	15. Monster of Nagob: Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Back on Nagob, Alku and Moona are sitting in the shelter of a cave.

"Was that the thing we're supposed to kill?" asked Alku.

"It has to be. There was nothing else around." said Moona.

"If that is it, why would Runcock want us to kill it?" asked Alku.

"Maybe because of the way our lightsabers couldn't penetrate the skin?"

"But that thing doesn't look dangerous. It looks more like it needs a medical exam." "That doesn't mean that it's not dangerous though." said Moona.

"I guess you're right. We'll have to try to kill it."

"Let's go then."

Alku thought for a moment, then said "No. You stay here in case it comes this way. If it does, just activate your homing beacon and I'll find you."

"Okay, but if it finds you and you can't stop it and you die, don't blame me."

She watched him walk away into the distance.

Alku first tried to retrace their footsteps back to where it was before, but it had obviously gone somewhere else because when he got there, it was gone.

"Oh well, might as well keep searching somewhere else."

Meanwhile at the landing platform, Vader's shuttle landed next to Alku and Moona's star fighters. The two droids were in a sleep cycle, so they couldn't warn Alku or Moona. The hatch opened and Vader walked out with Nicma.

"I've never seen this part of the planet before." Vader said to himself as he looked around, "Nicma, stay here. Keep an eye out for the Jedi or anyone unwelcome. If you need me, activate your comlink."

He walked around the motel structure and into the snow field. He didn't show any sign of surprise about the odd weather, he really didn't care. He had others things to concentrate on. As he walked around a large rock, he almost walked into something strange hiding on the other side. It looked like a slightly deformed short human wearing a black shirt and space pants. Both garments have pieces torn off and ripped in places. It had huge brown eyes, four fingered hands, and black hair. As it saw Vader, it froze.

"Ah! Please don't hurt me!"

Vader gave it a look of disgust, which could not be seen under his mask.

"What or who are you?" he asked it.

"My name is Aliga Frucle, sir." said the thing.

"Do you know anything about Jedi here?" Vader asked Frucle.

"No. They might be after my brother, the Monster of Nagob, as people call him. I keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone and that no one hurts him."

"If this thing is such a big problem, why don't you kill it?"

"He's my brother!"

"Well, since you are too soft to kill a lost case, I will have to do it myself after I kill you."

Vader ignited his lightsaber and raised it for the kill, but . . .

"Wait!" yelled Frucle.

Vader hesitated.

"Please don't kill me! I'll be your spy! I'll do whatever you want! I know how to kill the monster if you encounter it! Please!"

Vader considered for a moment.

"Well, I could use a spy. Very well, I'll spare your useless life."

He grabbed Frucle's shirt collar and dragged him through the snow back to the shuttle.

"What is _that_ thing?" asked Nicma, looking revolted as she saw Frucle.

"This tiny, little thing has information about this place."

"There's no need to be redundant, sir." said Nicma coolly.

Vader ignored this and said "Just interrogate him and tell me what he says, understand?"

Nicma nodded, looking irritated.

"Good. I shall return in a few hours." and he walked away back into the snow plain.


	16. Monster of Nagob: Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Alku continued to walk around looking for the monster until he saw the landing platform where their ships were parked. But there was another ship there too: An Imperial shuttle.

"Oh, great. Vader's here too." he said to himself.

He looked around. There appeared to be no one guarding the ship. He walked toward it cautiously. When he reached the shuttle, he began to rummage through Vader's things in the storage compartment. He was searching through Vader's box of collectible Palpatine dolls when he heard a lightsaber activate behind him. He spun around.

Standing before him was a female commander in an Imperial uniform. Glowing in her hand, was a red lightsaber blade.

As Alku stared at her, she leaped at him. He ducked so her blade caught the shuttle hatch, burning a sizzling gash into it.

"Who are you?" asked Alku.

"Anga Nicma, Darth Vader's ex-secret apprentice!" she said.

Alku stared at her.

"You. You're Runcock's old apprentice."

Nicma looked furious at the mention of Runcock's name.

"How do you know that?"

"He told me all about you."

"So, he's still alive?"

"Yes, he is. Why did you betray him?"

"He never cared about me. No one ever did. Runcock said he cared, but he abandoned me to get killed in the Jedi Temple. Vader promised to turn my life around, but he just treats me like dirt. After I kill you, I'll kill them both as well."

"Sorry. Moona and I are stopping Vader, and you're not killing Runcock as long as I'm alive."

Alku lunged at her with his blade raised. Nicma caught his blade with hers before Alku's could complete its swing. He made another slash at her but it missed, instead hitting the box containing Vader's Palpatine dolls, causing many of them to shatter into pieces. Nicma swung her blade toward Alku's face, but he caught her blade and forced it back toward her. Nicma let the blades fall, ducked out from under them and straightened up. Alku charged forward with his blade raised and made a wild swing, but Nicma caught it and forced her own attack on him, aiming for his neck. Their blades crossed and they stared hungrily at each other from behind their blades. Then at exactly the same time, both of them moved.

Alku broke his blade from the cross and swung it back. But Nicma had made a quick jab. Her blade sheared through Alku's right arm, just above the elbow. But at the absurd angle at which her blade made contact, Alku's severed arm, lightsaber still in the hand, flew at Nicma. The blade drove into her shoulder, nearly severing her arm off. As Alku recoiled backwards, clutching his stump of a right arm and gritting with pain, Nicma screamed, fell backwards onto the snow covered ground, and lay still. Alku staggered sideways, then fell to his knees, panting heavily. He retrieved his lightsaber from his other dead hand and started to crawl back the way he came, away from the shuttle.

As he disappeared into the distance, Aliga Frucle peered out from the interior of the shuttle and proceeded down the ramp and out of the shuttle. He looked down at Nicma's body for a moment, thinking. Then, coming to a decision, he rummaged in Nicma's pocket and took out her comlink. He put it into his own pocket. Then he looked in the direction that Alku had gone.

"If he and his friend are trying to get rid of Vader too, then I should help them out." He looked back at Nicma's body again.

"There's no way Vader can suspect I did that. I should be safe for now."

Then he ran in Alku's direction as well.


	17. Monster of Nagob: Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Moona began to feel uncomfortable. Alku had not checked in with her at all since he had left. She emerged out of the cave, looking around.

"There you are, Jonstone." said a deep mechanical voice.

Black cape rippling in the wind, armor and mask gleaming against the snow, Darth Vader strode toward her. He ignited his lightsaber and aimed it toward Moona, but her blade had also ignited. Then Vader suddenly turned and ran away from her. Thinking Vader would be after his shuttle to escape, Moona ran after him.

"You're a coward running away with a reputation like yours!" she yelled after him.

Vader continued to run, glad to see her still behind him.

"Just wait until she sees my army of Clone-"

Vader stopped dead.

The army of Clone troopers he had sent to the planet were all dismembered, lying at feet of the Monster of Nagob. It snarled at the sight of Vader and lunged at him. Vader swung his blade at it as it approached, but it made no effect. Vader backed away as Moona caught up with him.

"Oh. I see you've met our little friend." Moona said to Vader, seeing the monster in front of them.

"This thing is why you are here?" asked Vader, "Pitiful."

Then as the monster roared and charged forward again, Vader remembered something. He charged forward and aimed his blade at its face. Its head split in two upon impact with the blade and it fell backwards into the snow.

"How did you know that would work?" asked Moona suspiciously.

"I have a guide to this planet." said Vader simply, "Well, since that repulsive thing is out of the way, it is now time for you to die."

He raised his blade over his head and swung it down, only to find Moona's blade blocking her head. Vader made another slash at her and she blocked it again. Moona leaped over Vader's head in a summersault and landed behind him, but before she could strike, Vader spun around and caught her attack. He then made a furious swipe at her and she stepped backward, tripping over one of the dead monster's legs and fell backward, landing on her back next to it as her lightsaber flew out of her hand and landed next to the monster's severed head.

Vader strode toward her and snatched her lightsaber out of the snow. He stood over her with both blades aiming at her neck.

"It is very strange. I stand before you with two blades and I have the upper hand, but I sense something in the force, a feeling of . . . failure!"

With Moona pinned on the ground by his foot, he took out his comlink and spoke into it, "Nicma? Are you alive? Answer me. Now!"

But all Vader heard was static.

"Imbecile." he muttered angrily.

Then he looked back down at Moona.

"Well, since my ex-apprentice has failed me, I shall need to take out my anger on you."

He raised his blade again, but then a blast of plasma hit him in the back. He staggered and looked behind him.

Lying in the snow on his stomach and holding one of the fallen Clone trooper's blasters, was Alku. Vader turned to face Alku instead and threw Moona's lightsaber at him. He rolled over to avoid it and threw his own lightsaber at Moona. After it hit her in the face, she scooped it up, wriggled out from under Vader's foot, and threw herself up, facing Vader with Alku's lightsaber raised in front of her.

Either Vader was so angry he was burning up, or the spot where Alku had shot him was smoking. Either way, he was shaking with anger.

"How can I keep being defeated by you two? I won't let it happen again! I am so _sick_ of you two! Prepare to die!"

Vader charged forward and swung his blade up, but Moona had already shoved Alku's blade into his chest. Vader gave a yell of pain and fell to his knees. Moona drove the blade out of Vader and looked down on him as he fell forward onto his face and lay still.

Moona deactivated Alku's lightsaber and ran over to him, still lying in the snow. She turned him over onto his back and saw that he only had half of his right arm, the area around it charred and blackened.

"Oh. Ewww. What happened?" she asked him, looking revolted.

"It was Runcock's apprentice." Alku gasped, "She was with Vader."

Moona stared.

"Really? What happened?"

"I killed her."

"I figured that much. I meant what happened to _you_."

"She cut my arm off before she died. It was actually _why_ she died, strangely enough."

"Oh. Well, if you want that fixed, we'll have to find a medical unit somewhere. You can't fly your ship with one arm."

"You're telling me." said Alku despairingly.

"Hey, isn't there a medical unit at that motel next to our ships?"

"Yeah: convenient. That's where we should go then."

Moona helped Alku to his feet and supported him across the snow plain.

They reached the platform with Vader's smoldering shuttle still parked next to their ships, the still sleeping droids and Nicma's body.

"Wow. You two sure did a lot of damage here." said Moona.

"Yeah, but let's go inside and get a room until my arm is, um, fixed?" Alku said uncertainly.

They went inside.

The bar section was small and not very crowded. They walked up to the bar tender, who was slightly overweight.

"Excuse me." said Moona, "Do you have any rooms available?"

The bar tender looked at them with slightly unfocused eyes.

"Yeah. There's one available at the top."

"And is your medical center open by any chance?" asked Alku, showing the bar tender his stump of a right arm. The bar tender looked alarmed.

"Um, yeah, it is."

With that, they rented a room and climbed up the stairway toward the medical center to recover from the battle.

Meanwhile, Aliga Frucle came across a mass of dead bodies and spotted Vader's body lying amongst the white armor.

"Vader's clone is dead! But the real one is still around somewhere. I'd better warn them! But first . . ."

He bent down and began to rip pieces of armor off random bodies and attach them to his clothing.

While on Coruscant, Tarkin hurried to a shuttle in the hangar bay of the palace. He ran inside and closed the hatch.

"Lord Vader, set course for Kamino." he said as Darth Vader walked onto the shuttle behind him.

"Yes sir." he said expressionlessly.

Then the shuttle carrying them launched off the landing platform and blasted off into space.


	18. Clones: Chapter One

Chapter One

Inside the Imperial palace on Coruscant, Emperor Jinx is sitting in the emperor's throne with his hands folded, staring at the floor. Suddenly, the hologram projector on the other side of the room activated and an image of Emperor Palpatine appeared. Jinx jumped to his feet.

"Ah, Jinx." said Palpatine, "I trust you are having no difficulties."

"Um, actually . . ." Jinx began nervously.

"What? What has happened?"

"It's Tarkin and Vader, sir. They . . . stole a shuttle together. They left about 20 minutes ago." said Jinx tentatively.

"What? Are you sure?" asked Palpatine.

"Yeah, but Vader was following Tarkin's instructions and made sure I was out of the way before they left. I don't know what they were up to."

Palpatine's image looked thoughtful.

"Hmmm. Lord Vader and Tarkin wouldn't normally work behind my back. Unless . . . the clones . . ."

"Clones?" asked Jinx curiously, "Is that what you said, sir?"

"Stay there. I'm on my way over."

Palpatine's image disappeared.

Jinx turned from the projector and paced around the wide room, thinking to himself, "If Palpatine comes back here, that means I will no longer be in control of the palace, because I'm really only here because Palpatine had left. So what will happen to me when he comes back? I know he won't leave me in command and I have nowhere else to go, so even if I don't get kicked out, I might end up becoming target practice for the Clone troopers or something."

He shuddered, then continued to think to himself, "I can't let that happen to me, so I must leave before Palpatine comes back. No, wait. That wouldn't work. Palpatine would probably send Vader or Bounty Hunters after me or something. I guess my only option is to impress Palpatine so he can keep me in at least an important position, even if it isn't emperor."

He stopped pacing and faced the double doors at the end of the room, "I can prove to Palpatine that I am not useless. I'll go find Tarkin and Vader and bring them here to Palpatine so that he can reward me with a high ranking position when he becomes emperor again."

He walked out of the double doors, toward the door across the hall and emerged into the main hallway, which was full of statues of Palpatine, some with stone lightning coming out of his fingers and others with him simply raising his arms in triumph. As he walked toward the exit, his comlink buzzed.

"Excuse me, sir." said an officer's voice, "A Jedi has been located on the planet De Vun. How should we respond?"

Jinx looked excited.

"Oh, good!" he said eagerly, "Send Avery Contra and a Clone squad to take them out."

"Um, why not send Lord Vader, sir?" asked the officer.

"Lord Vader is indisposed at the moment. Besides, Contra has been begging for some action. Tell him to depart as soon as he is ready."

"Yes sir."

Jinx put away his comlink and continued toward the exit with a new bounce in his step.

"This is great! Even if I don't catch Vader and Tarkin, I will have had a Jedi killed! There is no way Palpatine won't reward me for that!"

He stopped as a sudden idea came to him. He had been reserving this idea for some time, but now was clearly the time to use it. He turned around and strode back down the hall, through the door at the end and headed toward the second door over from the throne room . . .


	19. Clones: Chapter Two

Chapter Two

In Nagob's medical center, Alku Justina is lying on a surgical bed with his stump of a right arm resting on a table being fitted with a robotical arm.

"How much longer is this going to take?" he asked the medical droid working on him.

"Not long now. All we need to do is attach the unitary wires to your veins to continue blood circulation and then you'll be out of here."

"But how _long_ will that take?"

"Just a few more minutes."

Meanwhile in the waiting room, Moona Jonstone is sitting in one of the many chairs in the room, waiting for a report on Alku's condition.

"Excuse me." said a voice.

She looked down at her feet and saw a small human-like alien half dressed in Clone trooper armor standing in front of her.

"What-I mean, who are you?" she corrected herself.

"My name is Aliga Frucle." said Frucle.

"What do you want?"

"I want to help you. You are trying to stop Vader right?"

"Yeah, but Vader's dead, so you don't need to worry about him anymore."

Frucle looked sadly at her.

"I'm sorry, but he's alive."

Moona stared at him.

After a while she said "But, I killed him, didn't I?"

"Well, sort of." said Frucle, "You killed one of his clones."

"Clones?"

"Yes. You see, I was Vader's prisoner for a while and I found out that he and Palpatine had created clones to protect themselves from dying."

"So, why do you want to help us?" asked Moona.

"It's a long story." said Frucle, "I really don't want to talk about it. Sort of a personal vengeance deal."

At that moment, the head medical droid came out.

"Moona Jonstone?"

"Yes?"

"Mr. Justina is all set to leave now."

It walked back into the medical room as Alku came out.

"You okay?" Moona asked when he reached her.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

She looked at Alku's right arm attachment.

"How's the arm?"

"Well . . ." he flexed it around so that it made whirring noises as it moved, "If you don't mind hearing that sound for the rest of your life, its fine."

"Good, but we've got some bad news."

"We?"

Alku looked down and saw Frucle.

"Who's this?"

"His name is Aliga Frucle. I just found out from him that Vader isn't dead."

"What?"

He looked at Moona, "But I saw you kill him."

"I know. But it wasn't really him. He has clones."

"Really? How did you find that out?"

"Him." said Moona, pointing down at Frucle.

"Well, how did he know?"

"I'll tell you later. Right now we need find Vader and kill him, again."

"Fine. Let's get going."

They started to walk toward the stairway down to the bar section, when Frucle ran up behind them.

"What do you want me to do?"

Moona looked down and considered him.

"Do you have any fighting experience?"

"A little. I might need some more practice though."

"Is there anything you can do besides fight?" asked Alku.

"Well, I stole a communications radio from Vader's shuttle after I escaped him. I can listen in on them and find out what their plans are."

"Good. You work on that and we'll be back at some point later." said Moona, turning and following Alku down the stairs.

They walked through the bar section and out of the building toward their Jedi starfighters on the landing platform. Their Astromech droids, R6-P9 and R5-X7, were already in their sockets, ready to go. Alku and Moona climbed into their ships, strapped themselves in and then blasted off into space.


	20. Clones: Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Kamino was silent when the Imperial shuttle landed on the platform of one of the buildings sitting in the middle of the planet's ocean. Tarkin emerged from the hatch and peered around the deserted landing platform.

"Vader, stand behind me and guard me upon entrance."

The Vader clone he brought along approached behind him.

"Yes sir." it said robotically.

Tarkin looked up at the sky where a storm was brewing.

"Doesn't it ever stop raining here?" he asked himself irritably.

It was rhetorical question, of course: He already knew that this was how the planet always was.

He and the clone walked up the platform toward the transparent sliding doors that led inside the building. Once they were over the threshold, one of the long necked Kaminoans approached them.

"Hello sirs. My name is Leon Ta, instructor of this building. Why are you here?"

"I wish you to make some clones for me, without any mind alterations." said Tarkin. Leon Ta looked at Tarkin as though he was out of his mind.

"I am sorry, we cannot accept that type of request unless we are reasonably paid."

"Excuse me." said Tarkin threateningly, "I don't think you realize who I am or where I am from."

He looked over at the Vader clone pointedly. Leon Ta looked at the clone in fright.

"Blackmail is not tolerated here, but under the circumstances . . ." He walked away from them as fast as he could go into a hallway.

Meanwhile, outside on the landing platform, another shuttle landed next to Tarkin's. Jinx emerged out of it and ran into the building toward Tarkin and the Vader clone. As Jinx approached, the clone turned and charged at him, drawing its lightsaber. Jinx pulled out his own lightsaber and made a defensive block against the clone's first blow. Then the clone charged again, but Jinx moved aside, so it smashed head first into the wall next to a bacta tank near the door.

"Lord Vader! Why are you doing this?" yelled Jinx hysterically.

The clone got up and charged again, lightsaber raised. Jinx raised his blade and blocked another blow from the clone.

"Please! Don't make me do it!" Jinx yelled in desperation.

He then swung his blade downward and forced the clone's blade toward the ground. Then the clone swung it's blade around Jinx's blade and swung it up, but then Jinx shoved his blade right into its chest. The clone flailed on the spot and fell backward, right into the bacta tank, knocking it over and sending bacta everywhere.

Jinx turned off his blade and turned to face Tarkin.

"What are you doing here Tarkin? What is going on?" he asked shakily.

"A complete misunderstanding." Tarkin said fluently, "I have suspicions that the Clone troopers developed here are being meddled with, so . . ."

"Do you have any idea what's just happened?" Jinx interrupted angrily.

"Oh, you mean what _you_ just did?"

Jinx looked shocked as he remembered.

"But . . . he attacked first. I had no choice. What am I going to do?"

"You've proven to be too much of a liability to the Empire anyway."

"What?"

Tarkin walked toward Jinx, taking out his blaster. Jinx saw the blaster emerge and reached for his lightsaber a split second too late. Tarkin raised the blaster at him quickly and fired. The bolt hit Jinx in the chest. He jerked, causing his ignited lightsaber to fly out of his hand and fall into the bacta, which caught fire as he fell backwards into it. Jinx flailed around screaming, covered in bacta and fire. Tarkin fired the blaster at Jinx again and he exploded into a million slimy pieces.


	21. Clones: Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Palpatine's shuttle landed on the landing platform of the palace. He disembarked and hurried into the building, flanked by his red robed bodyguards. The double doors opened for him automatically as he approached. He hurried to the throne room, which was empty. He went two doors over to Zograf's clone lab and entered.

"Zograf!" said Palpatine.

Zograf turned from one of the clone tanks.

"Emperor! I wasn't expecting you until-"

"Be quiet and listen to me." Palpatine interrupted, "Where is Jinx?"

Zograf looked lost.

"Um, I'm not sure. I thought he was supposed to wait here for you."

"What about Lord Vader?" asked Palpatine.

"I am here." said the real Vader from the shadows.

Palpatine looked taken aback, then angry.

"So it _is_ a clone then. Zograf, find Tarkin and Jinx."

Zograf walked over to his scanning computer and began to browse it.

"They appear to be on Kamino." he said finally.

"What are they doing there?" asked Palpatine.

"Well, when I informed him about our clones, he didn't seem very happy about it." said Vader.

"So undoubtedly he's trying to make his own. Zograf, send two of our clones to Kamino at once."

Back on Kamino, Leon Ta walked back into the entry room where he had left Tarkin and Vader to find Tarkin standing in the hallway just beyond the room.

"We've begun process on your clones, Mr. Tarkin."

"So, they all will act exactly like me, right?"

"Yes sir. Where is Lord Vader?"

"Oh, he's waiting back there in case you do anything wrong."

Leon glared at him, then said "You do know it will take a while for them to catch up to you, don't you?"

"That's fine, but I have to go now."

Tarkin turned and proceeded back down the hallway toward the exit. He had been gone from the palace for a while. Somebody would notice his absence.

He turned the corner and found himself facing Palpatine. Lightning shot from Palpatine's fingers and hit Tarkin in the chest. Tarkin yelled as the lightning sent shocks of electricity into him. Then the lightning stopped and Tarkin fell to his knees in front of Palpatine. Vader was standing just behind him, examining the remains of Jinx and the clone of himself.

"Please explain yourself, Tarkin." said Palpatine in a furious, yet calm voice.

"I just felt I deserved some clones."

More lightning shot from Palpatine's fingers into Tarkin. He flailed around and cried out in pain. Vader approached Palpatine.

"It appears that Jinx was shot and then combusted. He has singe marks on his remains."

"That's because he tried to kill me so he could stay in place as emperor!" gasped Tarkin.

The lightning stopped again.

"Explain further." said Palpatine.

Tarkin got gingerly to his feet, then said "He arrived here and the clone of Vader I had brought as a test subject attacked him. I had no control. Then Jinx killed the clone and thought he killed the real Vader and he panicked. Then he tried to kill me too, so I shot him and he fell into a bacta tank and his lightsaber ignited it. It was self defense. Jinx was going to betray us. I was merely trying to get clones for myself without causing extra expenses for the Empire."

Palpatine considered him for a moment.

"Very well, Tarkin. Your motives can be understood." he turned to Vader, "We need to prepare for Jonstone and Justina's arrival. They will have tracked us here by now."

Then he took out his comlink and said into it "Commander, send a backup shuttle to Kamino, just in case things get difficult for us."


	22. Clones: Chapter Five

Chapter Five

An Imperial shuttle landed in a clearing on the planet De Vun. The hatch opened and Avery Contra strode out along with twenty Clone troopers. Contra looked around cautiously.

"Spread out and search. The Jedi is here somewhere."

"Yes sir." said all the clones in unison.

Contra went one way with five of the clones, while the other three groups of five went in the other directions.

After 20 minutes of walking, Contra and his group came across a cave entrance.

"Check in there." said Contra, pointing at it.

Two of the clones moved forward and entered the cave. Contra and the other three clones hid behind some trees and waited. Then, in a split second's flash of blue light, two of the three clones had been decapitated. Contra and the remaining clone turned quickly. Alastair Runcock was standing behind them, with his blue blade ignited and poised in front of him.

"Consider that a warning." he said softly, "Either leave me in peace, or I will kill you all."

At that moment, the two clones that had entered the cave came back out of it.

"The cave is empty sir. But it looks like somebody was living in . . ."

The clone stopped dead, seeing Runcock. The other clone with him raised his rifle and fired at Runcock. Runcock's blade came up and the bolt rebounded back at the clone, causing him to collapse to the ground. The other clone in the cave gulped. Runcock just stood there, tossing his lightsaber into the air and catching it, looking bored.

As the lightsaber once again left his hand, the clone next to Contra fired at him, while the clone in the tunnel shot at his lightsaber. One bolt hit the lightsaber in mid air, so it flew spinning backwards. Runcock spun away from the second bolt, so it flew past him and hit the blade of his still spinning away lightsaber. The bolt rebounded off the blade and hit the clone next to Contra, causing him to collapse as well. Runcock extended his hand casually, so that his lightsaber flew back in his direction and landed in his hand.

"Do you guys really want to keep this up?" asked Runcock vaguely, resuming the tossing and catching of his blade as though nothing had happened.

For a long time the clone in the tunnel and Contra just stood there, watching Runcock tossing his lightsaber in silence.

Then the clone in the tunnel raised his rifle again and shot a bolt at Runcock's head, then dived aside. The bolt missed Runcock and hit the tree behind him. As Runcock turned to follow the clone with his eyes, Contra jumped to his feet. The clone fired at Runcock again from behind a tree next to the cave he had retreated to. This time, Runcock caught the bolt with his blade, so it rebounded back, but it hit the tree instead. Contra raised his own blaster behind Runcock and shot him in the back. Runcock jerked and staggered toward Contra. Panicking, Contra fired at him again. Another bolt struck his chest. Runcock made a wild, desperate swing and his blade came down through Contra's left shoulder, cutting off his entire arm, also adding a large slash to Contra's face, burning through his left eye.

As Runcock, now dead, fell to the ground, Contra screamed in pain and fell down next to him, not moving.

The clone that had hidden behind the tree stared at the aftermath, then took out his comlink and said "Objective completed. Contra is down! Everyone but myself was killed. Regroup here and bring the medical capsule immediately!"


	23. Clones: Chapter Six

Chapter Six

As they soared through space, Moona felt a strange sensation from the force. It felt somehow like a sense of loss.

"There!" said Alku's voice over the radio, "Vader's signal is coming from Kamino."

"Kamino?" asked Moona, "What is Vader doing there?"

"Maybe that's where his clones are being made, or something." said Alku, "We'd better get down there so we can get rid of him, again."

They steered their ships toward Kamino and entered the atmosphere where rain hit their windshields like small rocks.

"Does it ever stop raining here?" asked Alku, annoyed.

"I don't think so."

Suddenly, Moona's ship bucked and shook.

"What the-?" she yelled.

Alku looked down at the ocean below them.

Someone was shooting at them from the landing platform below them. Bolts kept hitting their ships until they crash landed on the platform with two loud clangs. When they got out of their smoldering ships, they saw that the person who was firing at them was Tarkin. He and Vader were flanking Palpatine in front of the entrance of the building on the platform they had landed on.

"Is that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine? He looks like a million years older since the last time I saw him."

"I think its _Emperor_ Palpatine now." Alku muttered.

He and Moona drew their lightsabers. Vader and Palpatine also ignited lightsaber blades.

Palpatine leapt into the air and landed on top of Alku, pinning him to the ground. Moona charged toward Vader and Tarkin. Vader swerved toward Moona with a violent swing, but Moona deflected it. Tarkin continued shooting at Moona from Vader's left. However, Moona managed to block all of Tarkin's bolts and Vader's blows without any difficulty.

Several of Tarkin's bolts flew past Moona's blade and hit the platform, causing part of it along with the two parked shuttles, the two damaged ships, and the two Astromechs to fall into the ocean.

On the other side of the platform, Alku had managed to escape from Palpatine and ran over to join Moona. Palpatine shot lightning after him in retaliation which hit him in the back. Alku fell to the ground twitching in agony. Moona spun around and deflected the lightning being shot at Alku back at Palpatine. It missed and hit the building behind him, causing a huge crater.

Tarkin continued to fire at them until Alku came forward and slashed Tarkin's blaster in half as Moona rushed up and engaged with Vader again. Tarkin threw the useless half of his blaster out of his hand and pulled out Jinx's lightsaber, which he had stolen earlier.

As he saw the lightsaber, Alku had an idea. He ran at Palpatine, who noticed him coming and began to fight with him. Tarkin, who did not have any Jedi reflexes, threw Jinx's lightsaber at Alku's back. Alku swerved away just in time. The lightsaber struck Palpatine in the chest. He fell off what was left of the platform and into the ocean.

Meanwhile, Moona and Vader continued to fight each other. Vader drove his blade up then forced it downward, but it was blocked by Moona's blade as she had lifted it to prepare for a new attack.

"I am through fighting you Jonstone, prepare to die!"

He lunged at her, but she merely moved over so Vader had to spin around and leap back at her. She deflected another swing from him and forced his blade down to prepare to get him in the chest, but he swept his blade out from under hers and leaped backward.

As that was happening, Tarkin had run back inside the building with Alku right behind him. But Alku was too fast for Tarkin and caught up to him quickly. He used the force to trip him up, so Tarkin flipped over and landed on his back. Alku stood over him and aimed his blade at his neck.

"It does not matter if you kill me." said Tarkin, "My clones will prevent my death."

"Huh." said Alku to himself, "He has clones stored in here too. Well, I guess we've got to get rid of the whole building then."

He turned from Tarkin and took a hand held grenade off his belt. He switched it on and stuck it to the wall of the building. It began to count down rapidly. Alku ran out of the building as fast as he could go. Tarkin got up and approached the grenade. It was set to go off in less than a minute.

"Damn." he muttered to himself.

Then he ran out of the building too.

Alku hurtled past Moona and Vader, who were still fighting.

"Moona! Come on!" Alku yelled, "I set an explosive to go off any second!"

Moona disengaged from Vader and ran to join Alku at the end of the platform.

"We have to swim, otherwise we'll get blown away." said Alku.

He and Moona took a deep breath and jumped into the ocean.

Then as they ducked under the water, the building and the rest of the platform behind them exploded into fragments.


	24. Clones: Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

After all the fragments of the building had landed into the ocean, Alku and Moona resurfaced.

"We need to find land." said Alku, gasping for breath.

They swam toward the center of the ocean. After a couple minutes of swimming, they came across another platform. They climbed onto it and looked around.

"Do you think we can find R6 and R5 and revive them?" asked Moona quietly.

"They're droids. There's no way they could have survived being submerged like that." said Alku, "I'll go look for a ship for us to take back to Nagob. You stay here in case something else comes. I'll activate my homing beacon so you can find me."

Moona nodded silently.

Alku turned and walked toward the building behind them.

Moona stood at the edge of the platform and watched the sky.

Then she heard a lightsaber activate behind her. Moona spun around and saw Vader standing behind her.

She stared.

She had completely forgotten about Vader, thinking he had perished with the building earlier.

Vader lunged at her, lightsaber raised. She ignited her own blade and spun away from Vader, then was forced to roll over to avoid losing her head from another swing from Vader.

"You have gotten more powerful than before, but you can gain even more if you join me. The Empire is destined to fall, I have foreseen it."

"Well that's great for you, but you need to die now."

She lunged at him again but missed. He leapt forward and swung his blade around to cut off Moona's arm, but she jumped aside and Vader shot forward, almost falling into the ocean. He turned back to Moona and their blades locked in a cross as they teetered on the edge of the platform.

"Goodbye Jonstone." Vader ducked out from under Moona as she lost balance and fell toward the water.

But she grabbed Vader's cape on the way down and forced him down while using it to propel herself back up onto the platform, so Vader fell into the water instead. He made an indistinct noise of anger, then climbed back onto the platform and charged at Moona again. She ducked under Vader's blade and swung hers behind her blindly. She felt feedback from the blade and heard two thunks behind her. She turned and saw Vader's body lying behind her, while his decapitated head rolled off the platform and into the ocean.

Moona sighed and turned off her lightsaber. She activated her comlink.

"Alku?"

"Hey, great timing!" said Alku's voice, "I just found two ships for us to use. Have any problems?"

"Well, I got attacked by Vader again."

"What?" asked Alku, sounding surprised, "Did you kill him?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure it was just another clone anyway."

"Well, come to these coordinates I'm sending to you and you can tell me in more detail."

A few minutes later, Moona emerged into a hanger bay behind the building, facing a pair of two person ships.

"Nice." said Moona.

"Yeah. Now we can fly these back to Nagob and work out our next strategy."

"Okay, let's go then." said Moona.

They got into the two ships.

"Oh, by the way, I don't think Vader's clones were in that building." said Alku over the radio.

"What makes you say that?" asked Moona.

"Well, the Clone troopers are made there. If Vader's clones were only made recently, then why didn't he try cloning himself before if they already had access to clone makers?"

"Yeah, good point. Well, let's see if Frucle found out anything when we get back, then we can plan our next move."

With that, the two ships lifted off and blasted into space.


	25. Clones: Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Inside the Imperial palace on Coruscant, Joseph Zograf paced around his clone lab, wondering whether Palpatine and Vader's clones had caught up with Tarkin and Jinx yet. He also wondered why the two real Sith Lords left all of a sudden while his back was turned. Then his hologram projector activated behind him. He turned and went to answer the message. It was Palpatine.

"Zograf." said Palpatine's image, "I have an important message for you."

"Where are you guys? What are you doing?" asked Zograf.

"Lord Vader and Tarkin will be supervising the construction of the Death Star from now on and I am going back to where I was for a little longer, so you are now in charge of the palace. Since Jinx is dead, you are next in line. Just keep making clones for Lord Vader and, if it's not too much trouble, replace my clones with replicas of Tarkin. I have other ways to protect myself if I have to, and I don't want to have any more betrayals."

"Thank you, sir. I will, sir." said Zograf eagerly.

"Very well. I will inform the rest of the building."

Palpatine's image vanished.

Zograf jumped into the air and raised his fist in triumph. Then he cleared his throat and walked over to his data scanner. He browsed it, looking for Moona and Alku's energy signatures so he could track them. He knew if he had Jonstone and Justina killed, it would save the Empire a lot of trouble, plus get more approval from Palpatine. He located them heading toward the planet Nagob. He pressed a button that allowed him to access their radio wave transmissions.

"So, when are you guys going to get back?" asked a voice he didn't recognize.

"Not sure." said Jonstone's voice, "Not for a while."

"What's going to happen now?"

"Honestly, we have no idea." said Justina's voice, "We do know we have to hunt down Vader and find out who is making his clones, because we know it wasn't Kamino. You would have to be really intelligent to make clones that are exact matches of the impersonator."

Zograf smirked.

"Will I be in on that mission too?" asked the unknown voice.

"We should see how battle proficient you are first, then we'll decide." said Jonstone.

"Fair enough. But, I have an idea to find out what we should do next. I know about an . . . acle who . . . the . . ."

At that moment, Zograf's transmitter lost their signal. He punched it angrily, then walked back to his clone tanks and checked the progress of Vader and Palpatine's clones. Functional.

"Wait." he thought to himself, "If Palpatine and Vader are not coming back here, then I can start the ultimate plan now and get rid of them forever. But first . . ."

He walked over to his hologram projector and activated it to contact the head officer of the palace.

"Yes?" said the officer dully.

"I believe the Emperor told you Zograf is in command of this station now?" said Zograf in a superior and intimidating sort of voice.

"Uh, yes he did. Do you want him sir?"

Zograf looked at the officer in annoyance.

"I _am_ Zograf you idiot!" he bellowed at him.

"I'm sorry sir, but you were being very vague."

"Okay shut up!" shouted Zograf, losing his temper, "Just listen to me!"

"I have been listening to you yelling at me for the past minute, sir."

"Shut up!"

"Sorry sir." said the officer, "Continue."

Zograf regained himself, taking deep breaths, then he spoke to the officer again.

"What is the progress of Avery Contra?"

The officer tensed a little.

"Oh. Um, he's in recovery. Injured pretty badly. The clones that survived transported him back here. They did manage to kill the Jedi they went after though."

"How long will he be in recovery?" asked Zograf intently.

"We don't know. For a long while, more than likely."

"Ugh! Fine." Zograf angrily turned off the projector and paced around the clone lab, thinking. After a while, he took out his comlink to contact the rest of Contra's clone squad.

"What do you want?" asked a clone's voice from the comlink.

Zograf glared at the comlink.

"Excuse me? I am in charge of this palace."

"I'm sorry sir. We only just got back from our mission. We have no idea what has happened since we left."

"Well, now you know, so listen up. I want you to invade the Imperial Death Star and sabotage it as effectively as you can. Make sure Darth Vader and Tarkin are on board when you destroy it. Understand?"

The clone responded uncertainly "Um . . . yes, sir."

Then Zograf put away his comlink and went back to the clone tanks. He took out his lightsaber and slashed all of Vader's clones so the contents spilled all over the floor. He turned away from the smashed clone tanks and sighed with contempt.

"At least now Vader and Palpatine will only have only one chance to live instead of fifteen or something. Now I can use the clones intended for Tarkin for myself!"

He went over to his cabinet and took out some more cloning fluid.

"Once Vader and Palpatine are dead, the final step of our final plan will finally be accomplished!"

Zograf strode into his pitch black working room and closed the door behind him.


	26. Infiltration: Chapter One

Chapter One

Inside the Empire's new space station, the Death Star, Darth Vader is walking along the bridge overlooking the power core, thinking to himself.

"I know that Jonstone and Justina are still alive and they have evaded me for a long time. But something in the Force tells me that their time has come at last."

He strode over to a hologram projector at the other side of the bridge. He activated it and an image of the head mechanical engineer working on the Death Star appeared.

"Yes, Lord Vader?"

"How long until completion?"

"Well, the entire station will take several more years, judging by size. But we are making good time."

"Do we have any knowledge of where Jonstone and Justina are hiding?"

The officer looked startled and scared.

"Um, no. Not yet. But . . . but we have found a way to track them."

"Well? What is this new development?" asked Vader intently.

"Well, sir, when we recovered Anga Nicma's body from Nagob, we discovered that her comlink had been stolen. Whoever stole it has been eavesdropping on our discussions within the Empire. So, the next time they listen in we can trace the comlink's signal back to its location. Since it's very likely that one of the Jedi stole it, we can find their location that way."

"Good. Inform the Emperor on our progress."

"Yes sir. Thank you, sir."

Vader switched off the projector, turned away from it, and began to walk back along the bridge. He passed several Imperial officers working on the scanning computers inside the command center, by the shield generator which was still being worked on, and finally entered his quarters. He sat down in a chair next to a viewport and stared out at the stars sprinkling the space outside.

After Tarkin had been rescued from Kamino by Palpatine's backup shuttle, he had been surprised that Palpatine had swept Tarkin's recent betrayal aside as if it had been nothing. But then, he and Tarkin did have a long history together, from what he knew.

He began to feel himself slowly drifting off. He closed his eyes . . .

An image of himself engaged in a lightsaber duel with a young man dressed in black appeared in his head. The man wore a black glove on his right hand. The man slashed at him with clear anger etched on his face, until his green blade sheared through Vader's right hand. Vader fell back against a railing and panted faintly.

"Lord Vader?"

The voice sounded miles away.

Vader opened his eyes. His comlink had activated and the voice of one of the officers in the control room was coming out of it.

"Lord Vader? Sir?"

Vader picked up his comlink.

"What is it?"

"The Emperor wants you to contact him immediately, sir. He wants a personal report from you on what is happening."

"Tell him I am on my way now." said Vader, standing up.

"Yes sir."

Vader put away his comlink and walked out of his room back down the hallway. He was sure he had just had another premonition about his future.

"So, apparently that man will kill me and may destroy the Empire unless I do something about it first. But Jonstone and Justina are supposed to be the main threat, so why am I presented with another? Are they both involved?"

He shook his head and continued, "I need to work this out later. Right now, my main concern is to make sure that this battle station becomes operational on schedule."

As he walked back into the control room, he realized that he had also felt a certain connection with the man in his vision, almost as though he was some long lost relation of his . . .


	27. Infiltration: Chapter Two

Chapter Two

On the planet Nagob, two ships are parked next to the combined motel and medical structure. Alku Justina and Moona Jonstone are sitting at a table in the bar section inside.

"Okay" said Alku, "We need to think of a way to find Vader's clones and destroy them."

"Yeah, because if Vader has backup versions of himself, he can never be killed." said Moona, sipping her drink, "But we also have to find who is making the clones, so he or she can't make any more."

"So how do you propose we find them?" asked Alku.

"Well, we need to wait for Frucle to come down here and tell us what he found out, then we can form a strategy."

Alku looked over at the stairway next to their table.

"We don't have to wait much longer."

Aliga Frucle had just emerged down the stairs, donning his Clone trooper armor and a blaster. He looked around carefully, saw them, and hurried over.

"What happened to your radio earlier?" asked Alku.

Frucle shrugged.

"No idea. The signal just died."

"So what were you saying before we broke up?" asked Moona.

"Oh, yeah! I was going to tell you how we can find out what to do about Vader."

"Okay, what was your idea?" asked Alku.

"Well, I know about an oracle that exists in the far end of the galaxy. We can go to him and get some inspiration on what we can do next."

"An oracle?" said Moona, "I hadn't considered that option yet. The problem about that is, I've never found out where any oracles exist, so I never bothered to try to find one. Plus they're rare, too."

"Well, I know where this one is. I've visited him before."

"Really? What for?" asked Alku.

Frucle continued, ignoring Alku's question.

"I also found out that Vader has begun construction on a powerful space station that can destroy planets. He calls it the Death Star and he is currently residing there, overlooking construction."

"Did you find out anything about Vader's clones?" asked Moona.

"Yes. Vader's clones were created by someone called Zograf and they are being made in one of Palpatine's Imperial palaces on Coruscant. Palpatine has clones too, by the way. I'm not sure if you knew that yet."

"Well, I kind of figured." said Alku, "I mean, the way he died on Kamino seemed way too easy and simple to have really been him."

"But there is one slight problem." said Frucle reluctantly, "They found out I was listening in on them after a while. If I try to use the radio again, they'll trace its signal back to us."

Alku looked over at Moona.

"This is it then, isn't it? We have to find a way to destroy Vader's Death Star and his clones."

"Yes, but we don't know what to do about it yet. I think we should go to this oracle guy and see what he says."

"Let's go then." said Alku, standing up.

Moona and Frucle followed him out the door. Frucle and Alku got into one ship, while Moona got into the other.

"Okay, I'll tell you where to go." said Frucle to Alku, "There's a special rule for this trip: No humans can find this particular oracle alone. An alien has to guide you there. So as long as you two stay with me, you'll find him."

"Did you copy that Moona?" asked Alku after Frucle had finished speaking."

"Yeah, I heard you. Go on ahead." said Moona.

Then the two ships hovered off the ground and shot into the sky.


	28. Infiltration: Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Inside the Imperial palace on Coruscant, Joseph Zograf paced around his clone lab. He had just finished constructing his own batch of clones, which were lined up against the back wall inside their individual tanks. He stopped pacing when his hologram projector lit up. He walked over and activated it. An image of a Clone trooper appeared.

"Report." said Zograf.

"We have invaded the Death Star and we are approaching the main power core now." the clone responded.

"Good. Make sure you destroy it completely, even if it means destroying yourselves in the process."

"Yes sir."

As the clone's image vanished, Zograf turned to face his clone tanks and sighed with satisfaction.

Meanwhile on the Death Star, Vader is walking down a corridor, thinking about his latest premonition. He turned the corner and found himself facing several Clone troopers hacking the Death Star's main power core.

Instinctively, he drew his lightsaber and ran at them. Several opened fire on him, but he managed to block all the bolts easily so they rebounded back at them instead. The rest collapsed as he slashed and struck them with his blade. Then he approached the last clone. He grabbed him by the neck and lifted him two feet off the ground.

"I only want to hear one word from you." said Vader menacingly, "The name of the one who sent you to do this."

The clone clawed at Vader's hand and Vader increased the pressure, causing him to gag.

"Z-z-z-zograf!" he gasped.

"Thank you." said Vader and he squeezed so hard, the clone's neck snapped and broke.

"So, Zograf has turned against us. I must inform the Emperor at once."

He dropped the clone's body among the others and proceeded back along the corridor.

"These betrayals are becoming rather frequent: First Mach, then Nicma, then Tarkin, then Jinx, and now Zograf. Am I the only member of the Empire with _any_ respect for my superiors?"

He stopped dead in his tracks on the bridge overlooking the tractor beam setup. He had felt something go through him, like some sudden realization from the Force. He had never felt this kind of feeling from the Force before. It felt triumphant, as though the Force was telling him today was going to be very significant for him and the Empire. He reached further into the force, trying to find out more about this feeling he had felt. But apparently, the Force did not want Vader to know any more.

"So why did it bother to give me this feeling?" he asked himself bitterly.

He continued on across the bridge toward the control room to contact Palpatine.

"Well, at least I know something good for us will happen today, but what is it? Could it be the deaths of Jonstone and Justina at last? Or could it be the completion of this battle station? No, impossible. It won't be finished for several more years, even if work is proficient."

He entered the control room and approached the hologram projector in the middle of it.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it will present itself in due course."

He activated the projector and an image of Emperor Palpatine appeared before him.

"Lord Vader." said Palpatine, "What do you have to report?"

"Quite a bit, actually." said Vader, "I believe this bit of news will make you very pleased."


	29. Infiltration: Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Somewhere in an unknown section of space, Frucle, Moona, and Alku walked along a very long path stretching ahead. The planet they had landed on had purple sand on the ground surrounding the path and seemed to be completely deserted. Frucle had explained earlier that the Oracle lived in unknown areas of space so that only those worthy of his knowledge could find him. They stopped suddenly.

"What are we doing?" asked Alku.

"There is a portal here that will lead us to him. You two can't see it because you aren't aliens." Frucle replied.

"What's with all the alien requirements?" asked Moona.

"I never asked him." said Frucle, "Come on."

Then he walked forward and faded from site.

"Oh. That must be the portal." said Alku, "After you."

Moona nodded, then walked forward into the invisible portal and vanished. Alku followed her.

It felt to Alku as though he was walking through water, but when he emerged on the other side, he was completely dry.

The room they arrived in was elaborately styled, with designs and symbols on the white walls. On the opposite side of the room in front of them was a huge window that looked like water sloshing around as though it was churning from beneath the surface.

There was also a huge throne in the center of the room, right in front of the window. Two aliens of different species stood on either side of it.

The alien on the left had two tusks on either side of his face with two horns on his head and was holding an axe.

The other was a humanoid with a line of stone bumps along its thumbs, arms and neck. It also had green skin, two slits for a nose and weird designs etched on its head.

The being that sat in the throne between the two aliens was very ancient looking. It appeared to be human, except for the fact that it had four eyes. It was wearing long golden robes and had a beard that had been tied into two long 'braids'.

Alku, Moona and Frucle walked up to them.

"Well. Mister Frucle. How intriguing to see you again." said the being in the throne, most likely the Oracle.

"Yeah, it's been a while." said Frucle nervously, "I was hoping that you could give my friends here some advice on what they should do next in their efforts to stop Darth Vader."

"Your friends?" said the Oracle, looking at Alku and Moona, "Very well. What do you have to give to me?"

"Uh, give you?" asked Moona, looking confused.

"Oh, damn!" Frucle whispered, "I forgot that you have to present him with something in exchange for your information."

"Are you saying we came all the way here for nothing?" asked Alku, sounding irritated.

"Not necessarily." said the Oracle, "There is something you two can do to be worthy of my knowledge."

He nodded at the alien with the tusks, who came forward, raising his axe.

"Whoa! Hang on!" shouted Alku, raising his hands in a stopping motion, "What's this?"

"The only other way you can receive my information is to prove yourselves worthy enough."

"By doing what?" asked Moona.

"Killing my bodyguard." said the Oracle.

"Hey, we didn't come here to kill anyone. We just want some advice."

"I'm sorry. This is the way things are done here."

Alku turned to Frucle.

"You didn't tell us we'd be risking our lives."

"I'm sorry. I forgot. I was focused on getting you here and I've been through a lot lately."

"You'd better step back now." said the Oracle to Frucle, as the alien raised his axe again and moved toward Alku and Moona, "Let us see if they are worthy, or if they will die."


	30. Infiltration: Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Frucle backed away quickly as Alku and Moona ignited their lightsabers. The alien's axe swung down next to Alku as he swerved sideways. Moona swung her blade at the alien's leg, but he leaped into the air and came down behind her. He raised his axe again, but then Alku's blade came out of nowhere and cut the axe in half. Deprived of a weapon, the alien punched Alku in the face, causing him to fall backwards and drop his lightsaber. The alien picked up Alku's lightsaber and raised it for the kill. Then Moona swung her blade around and severed his neck. The alien's head fell to the ground next to Alku, still lying on the ground. Moona stared at what she had done while the Oracle applauded behind them.

"Well done." he said calmly, "You have proven yourselves to me that you are worthy."

Moona looked around at him.

"You think us killing your bodyguard counts as being worthy?" she asked him, sounding revolted.

"It is the way things are done here." the Oracle replied.

Moona turned off her blade as Alku stood up and picked up his own blade where the alien had dropped it. Frucle inched forward as they approached the Oracle and the other bodyguard, who looked just as revolted as Moona at what had just happened.

"What knowledge do you seek from me?" asked the Oracle.

Alku and Moona looked at each other.

Alku took a deep breath and said "We need to know what we should do next, in our attempts to stop Darth Vader."

The Oracle closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"I sense that the final struggle is approaching. You two will both be in it. The victor is uncertain. Your final foe will be both new and familiar and is the final obstacle between the final outcome of this fight."

He looked up at them.

"That's it?" asked Moona, "That's all you have to say?"

The Oracle nodded.

"That is all."

Alku turned away and raised his arms in exaggeration.

"Geez! What do we have to do to get decent help for once?"

Moona raised her hand to him, looking at the Oracle.

"Hold on. The final struggle? When?"

"Soon." the Oracle replied.

"Don't you have any more information than that?"

"My powers are limited. I cannot see everything, only the bits the seekers can afford to know."

"So you do know how things will turn out?" asked Alku.

"Yes."

"But you won't tell us how to prepare?"

The Oracle considered him for a moment.

"You may need some extra assistance when the final struggle approaches."

He turned to the other bodyguard.

"Syke, go with them and assist in the final fight."

The alien called Syke nodded and walked forward, extending his hand to Moona.

"You want to shake my hand after I killed your friend?" she asked uncertainly.

"He was not my friend. We were just co-workers for the Oracle. Nothing more."

"Oh, okay then. Nice of you to join up."

"Thank you." said Syke.

Moona turned back to the Oracle.

"We're leaving now. That okay with you?"

The Oracle raised a hand carelessly.

"It is no concern of mine what you do now."

Moona turned and walked through the portal behind them. Syke followed her. Alku grabbed Frucle's hand and walked after them.

Before he entered the portal, Alku turned back to the Oracle, now sitting alone with the dead bodyguard lying in front of him.

"Try being a little nicer to your future seekers. Then they might actually come back."

Then he passed through the portal, dragging Frucle with him.

"I'm sorry." said Frucle as he and Alku emerged on the other side.

"Forget it." said Alku, "We have more important things to worry about now."

They ran to catch up with Moona and Syke. They were in mid conversation when they reached them.

"Yes, his visions have always been slightly vague." Syke was saying to Moona, "But he has never been wrong about anything."

"I'm sorry." said Frucle again.

"It doesn't matter." said Moona, "I know you were only trying to help."

"So, what is the plan?" asked Syke.

"Well, we know that Vader is on his Death Star and the clones are on Coruscant. So we should split up and try to get rid of them both." said Alku.

He looked at Moona.

"Here's what we should do. I'll go to the Death Star and try to kill Vader."

"But why you? I've killed Vader twice, technically." said Moona.

"Yeah, but Vader's hardly ever faced me. Besides, he's probably going to expect you to face him. We should try to give him something unexpected this time."

Moona sighed.

"Fine, but this is the real Vader you'll be facing. Don't underestimate him."

"I won't." said Alku.

Moona looked down at Frucle.

"You think you're ready to try fighting?" she asked him.

Frucle's face lit up.

"Oh, yes! I've been waiting for this moment most of my life. I'm ready."

"Then you'd better go with Alku."

Alku looked at her quickly.

"Why is he going with me?"

"He knows where the Death Star is, so he should be able to help you get there."

"Fair enough." said Alku resolutely.

"So that means I am to go with you?" asked Syke, looking at Moona.

"Yes. I think so. What sort of fighting powers do you have?"

"I can repel any force thrown at me. I can conjure up a sort of invisible barrier to protect myself or anyone around me if I choose to. All who are my species have that power."

"So we're agreed then." said Alku, "Me and Frucle will go kill Vader and destroy the Death Star, while Moona and Syke go destroy the clones and kill this Zograf person."

At this point, they reached their ships at the end of the path.

"We'll see you two later." said Frucle to Moona and Syke as he climbed into the back seat of Alku's ship. Syke waved at Alku in a goodbye gesture and climbed into the back seat of Moona's ship.

"Where do we go once we complete our tasks?" asked Moona.

"Nagob." said Alku, "We still have our room reserved, right?"

"Yeah. Do you think this is going to be that final struggle the Oracle referred to?"

"Probably." said Alku, "It has all the aspects, doesn't it? We know where Vader and the clones are and we are both taking part in it. Plus he said it would be happening soon, right?"

"Yeah." said Moona, "Well, we'll see you when you get back."

"Yeah. Good luck." said Alku.

He turned around and got into his ship while Moona got into hers.

Seconds later, the two ships hovered off the purple sand and shot off toward their destinations.


	31. Infiltration: Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Moona maneuvered their ship through space until the planet Coruscant loomed ahead.

"Here we are." she said as she steered the ship down toward the planet surface.

"This planet is an entire city!" said Syke, sounding intrigued.

"Yeah it's pretty cool, but we can't be seen by Imperial forces or we'll never get a shot at the clones."

After a while, they reached the right palace. Moona lowered the ship just outside the entrance to the palace's landing platform. She got out and looked around cautiously. Syke climbed out of the back seat of the ship and joined her.

"Okay, listen." said Moona quietly, "Be ready to back me up if we encounter any defenses."

Syke nodded.

Moona peered from behind the wall surrounding the palace and saw two Clone troopers standing sentinel on either side of the entrance to the building. She raised her hand and used the force to make one of the clone's blasters fly out of his hand and shoot him in the face. Then she made it bang the other guard on the head, knocking him out.

"Impressive." Syke said to Moona.

"That was nothing. Come on."

She ran toward the double doors with Syke behind her.

They edged into the palace and found themselves in a long entrance hall with statues of Palpatine in random poses along the walls. As they started down it, they had to keep hiding behind one of the statues whenever an officer emerged into it.

Finally, they reached the end of the hallway and found three doors facing them. The one on the left had a sign on it saying "Throne Room", the middle door's sign said "Second floor" and the door on the right said "Office of Joseph C. Zograf".

"That must be it." said Syke to Moona, pointing at the third door.

Moona cautiously opened the door and emerged into a huge room with a scanning computer at the far end and along the right side wall, there was a line of what looked like green masses of goo inside about twenty glass tanks.

"Yes! We found it!" said Moona eagerly.

She ignited her lightsaber and began to slash the tanks, so that their contents spilled all over the floor.

"No!"

Moona spun around.

Standing in the doorway of the room was a man in a black robe and a battle helmet that resembled Vader's.

"My clones!" he shouted, "I won't let you do this to me!"

He ran into the room, igniting his own lightsaber blade. Moona pushed Syke aside and swung her blade so it connected with the man's.

"You're Zograf, I take it?" asked Moona, while their two blades remained crossed.

"And I'm betting your one of those two Jedi that have been giving Vader so much trouble lately." said Zograf, "But the joke's on you if you came here to destroy Vader's clones, because I've already done that!"

"What?" said Moona, taken aback.

"Our final plan will be accomplished now that Vader and Palpatine's clones are gone and I have my own clones to keep myself from dying!"

"You are going to die and we will bring the Jedi Order back." said Moona, disconnecting her blade from Zograf's and raising it in front of her.

"You're too late."

Moona froze in mid-swing.

"What are you talking about?"

"That Alastair Runcock you had contact with? He's dead. We tracked him and ordered his execution."

Moona angrily swung at Zograf's neck with her lightsaber, but Zograf caught the blow with his own blade and forced her back away from him. Then he swung his blade at Moona's chest, but she made a defensive block so the two blades collided again.

Meanwhile, Syke had run over to Zograf's computer and began to type feverishly.

Moona and Zograf continued to duck and swing at each other. Then Zograf's next swing missed Moona's blade and sank into the wall. Moona raised her blade up and swung it at Zograf's arm as he tried to force his blade out of the wall. He wrenched it out and avoided Moona's blade by inches. Then as Zograf swung his blade back again, Moona swung hers down and it sliced into Zograf's chest, burning a sizzling gash into it. Zograf gasped sharply, looked down at the scorching, smoking line in his chest, then slumped backward against the wall.

Syke came running toward Moona.

"We must go quickly!" he shouted as he ran past her, "I have set a detonation sequence to go off any minute!"

Moona looked down at Zograf's body, then ran out after Syke.

Zograf gave a tiny jerk and fumbled in his pocket for his comlink. He activated it and spoke his last words into it:

"Barricade the exit. A Jedi is escaping."

Then he slumped back against the wall for the last time.

As Moona emerged into the hallway, she saw Syke with his hands raised repelling hundreds of bullets back at the group of Clone troopers blocking the exit. She ran toward them, forcing her way past some troopers, cutting down others and repelling bullets at the rest. Then she reached the exit and ran after Syke, who had gotten out before her, toward their ship, continuing to repel bullets back at the troopers firing after them. They both got into the ship and took off.

Seconds later, the palace detonated behind them with a loud bang, causing pieces of debris to fly past their ship and they rode the shockwave until they were blasted back into space, speeding away from the planet.

After a long while, Syke said "We did it."

Moona sighed.

"Yeah. Basically."

"I'm very sorry about your friend." said Syke.

"Yeah."

"We'd better head to Nagob. Alku said it was the rendezvous point, right?"

Moona nodded.

She steered their ship around, taking the familiar route back to the planet where her and Alku's journey had started, thinking with mixed emotions about what would happen next.


	32. Infiltration: Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Alku and Frucle continued their flight until they saw a small moon dead ahead.

"There it is." said Frucle.

Alku squinted.

"Oh boy." he said to himself.

What he had taken for a moon _was _the Death Star. It was clearly still being worked on. There were large chunks of the inside structure still visible from the outside.

"I'm pretty sure the tractor beams aren't operational yet, so we should have no problem getting inside undetected." said Frucle.

"Got it." said Alku, "But I'd be surprised if Vader didn't have any outposts watching for incoming ships. We'd better watch out for them."

They steered down toward one of the landing deck entrances. There was no sign of any defense. They soared into one of the hangar bays and landed silently. There were a couple of parked TIE fighters nearby, but the hangar was otherwise deserted.

Alku got out of the ship and looked around. He had a very odd feeling about this. Frucle clambered out of the ship behind him.

"Let's go, and watch yourself." said Alku to Frucle, who raised his blaster at the ready.

They moved forward toward one of the doors off the landing platform. Alku poked his head into the hallway and saw no one there. He waved at Frucle to follow him, then proceeded down the hallway.

After walking for a few minutes, they found a door at the end of the hallway with words carved into the metal saying "Power Core."

"Good. We can just set off an explosive in there so we can end up killing Vader and destroying the Death Star at the same time." said Frucle.

"Yeah. That way we'd have less risk of being discovered as opposed to leaving a bunch of dead bodies behind." said Alku.

There was a pause.

"Are you sure you're ready in case we get attacked?" Alku asked Frucle.

He nodded.

"I've done everything I can to prepare. I'm ready to get back at Vader."

Alku took a deep breath and opened the door.

Immediately, hundreds of blasters went off. About fifty Clone troopers were inside the power core room. Alku's now ignited lightsaber swung through the air, deflecting bolts back at the troopers, causing most of them to rebound and hit them instead. The ones in front collapsed, but others came forward, still shooting. Frucle clearly had been training because he managed to shoot a couple of them himself, while occasionally using the doorway as cover.

After the rest of the troopers collapsed and the thunderous noise of firing bullets died away, Alku turned to Frucle.

"Nice job taking down those . . ."

He froze.

Frucle was spread eagled on the ground, his face frozen in a shocked expression, and a bullet wound in his chest.

He was dead.

Alku stood there in shock. He had never been a big fan of Frucle's, but somehow, seeing him dead like this seemed to have awoken in him an overwhelming feeling of sorrow for the little alien who had tried to help them.

He continued to stare down at Frucle's body until he heard someone coming down the hallway behind him.

He turned and saw Darth Vader striding toward him, alone.

Alku now felt a mixture of shock and grief for Frucle, and anger at the troopers who had killed him, and at Vader.

He held his blade poised in front of him as Vader continued to stride toward him. Then Vader stopped and looked at him.

"You." he said simply, "So I am not to face Jonstone this time? Shame. I was just getting used to the idea of killing her, but I suppose you'll do just as well."

Then his own scarlet blade shone out from under his cape.

Alku flung at Vader, blade over his head and swished it down, only to find Vader's blade blocking it. Then Alku broke free of Vader's blade and swung at his neck. Vader raised his blade up and blocked Alku's blade again. Then Vader swung at Alku so fast, his blade was just a red blur, but Alku's blade came up just in time to block it.

"I see you had teamed up with that traitor Frucle. I thought you and Jonstone had better taste than that." said Vader.

"He wasn't a traitor, he just signed up with the right group." said Alku, "He obviously noticed that your plans are hopeless and impossible."

"Impossible?" said Vader loudly, suddenly kicking out at Alku, causing him to fly backwards and slam into the opposite wall, "We have basically executed the entire Jedi Order and we outnumber you a hundred to one. Now, tell me who is trying the impossible."

Alku got to his feet and raised his blade again.

"We've done way more to you than you have to us. Let's see, we defeated you on Nagob the first time, Moona has technically killed you twice since then, I killed Nicma and that Clone trooper with the lightsaber, and I destroyed Tarkin's clones on Kamino. What exactly have _you_ done recently?"

"Well, Alastiar Runcock, for one thing."

"What?"

"He is dead."

Alku looked at Vader in shock.

"No. He can't be . . ."

"I assure you, he is." said Vader, "I understand he was close to Jonstone?"

Alku swung his blade back and drove it fiercely toward Vader, who ducked and caused Alku's blade to catch the wall and burn a slash into it.

"Where is your precious comrade anyway?" asked Vader as he backed off.

"Oh, she's just off destroying your clones."

"What? Well, I give her credit for trying, but the odds on her accomplishing that without dying are very thin."

Then Vader swung at Alku again, causing him to raise his blade up to deflect Vader's.

"You cannot stop the Empire. Apart from a few minor setbacks, you have done nothing to affect us."

He kicked out at Alku's leg, causing him to collapse to the floor and his lightsaber to fly out of his hand. Then Vader swung his blade down at Alku again, but the blade missed him and sank into the floor. Alku rolled away from Vader and got to his feet. He used the force to make his lightsaber fly back into his hand while Vader tried to force his blade out of the floor.

Alku caught his lightsaber and ran forward for a new strike, but then he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Looking down slowly, he saw Vader's lightsaber hilt pressed into it.

Vader forced his blade out of Alku's chest and stepped back. Alku stared down at the smoking hole Vader made in his chest as his vision began to blur slightly.

He sank slowly to the floor and put his left flesh hand over the hole.

He looked up at Vader for the last time and said faintly, "No."

Then he fell back onto the floor and everything went dark.


	33. Infiltration: Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Vader walked into the Death Star's control room and activated the hologram projector in the center. An image of Emperor Palpatine appeared before him.

"Yes, Lord Vader?" said Palpatine.

"Well, Zograf has destroyed all of my clones and turned yours into clones for himself instead of Tarkin. He had also planned to sabotage the Death Star with misguided Clone troopers, which I took care of, and Jonstone had managed to kill Zograf, blow up the palace, and destroy the clones." said Vader.

"The palace was destroyed?" asked Palpatine, "Well, one building is no concern of mine, and there are other ways we can protect ourselves. What of Justina?"

"Now this part you will like. Justina is dead. I killed him during his own attempt to destroy the Death Star."

Palpatine looked delighted at this news.

"Also, Aliga Frucle has been killed too." said Vader.

"Why was he here?" asked Palpatine.

"It seems he was assisting Justina in destroying the Death Star as well."

Palpatine sighed with satisfaction.

"Well, this is the best report I've had from you since your attack on the Jedi temple. Now Jonstone is no longer a threat to us. She will no doubt be devastated after the 'tragic' loss of her comrade. You have done well, Lord Vader."

"Thank you, my master." said Vader.

He bowed his head as Palpatine's image vanished, then walked out of the room.

As he walked, he thought to himself, "Apparently the events of the future have nothing to do with Jonstone, so I should not bother with her anymore. Besides, she must be a lost case because of Justina's death. I also apparently have a greater nemesis somewhere else to be concerned with. I feel it is my destiny to face this person. He must be the one I have to kill then. Once he is gone, Jonstone should be the only Jedi left alive and I will find and kill her to ensure every remaining link to the Jedi is eliminated."

He entered his quarters and the door slid shut behind him.

Meanwhile on the planet Nagob, in the combined bar and medical center, Moona and Syke sat in the room that Moona and Alku had rented days ago. Syke was looking out of the window, lost in thought. Moona had been crying for several minutes, sitting on her bed in the room.

She and Syke had found out about Frucle and Alku's deaths while watching the Holo-Net downstairs in the bar, which had featured a story about an attempted sabotage of the Death Star, resulting in the deaths of an unidentified alien creature and a Jedi. Neither of them had spoken to each other since they saw the report nearly 20 minutes ago.

Then Syke finally spoke.

"We have to go into hiding to continue our rebellion. Vader is bound to keep searching for you."

Moona looked over at him slowly, her face wet and red.

"Why? Everybody I've known my whole life is dead now. It feels pointless to resist anymore. Vader's won."

Syke sat down next to her.

"As long as you're alive, Vader hasn't won. Don't you think they would have wanted you to keep going? You survived for a reason and I'm sure it wasn't for you to give up. You've nearly completed your mission to take down Vader and the Empire."

He paused, then said "We should return to the Oracle's chambers. Vader won't find you there."

"Yeah, let's go." she said, standing up, "I have a few things I want to say to him."

She opened the door and disappeared down the stairs.

Syke stared after her for a moment, then followed.


	34. Aftermath Prologue

Prologue

Moona Jonstone and the alien Syke, the only survivors of the most recent battle, have retreated to the hidden chambers of an oracle that Syke had previously worked for.

Darth Vader however, had continued his reign of terror across the galaxy.

Around 20 years after the events some have dubbed 'The Clone Battles' ended and after some technical difficulties, the Empire's Death Star was finally completed. They tested its destructive power on the planet Alderaan, destroying it in the process.

Later, Vader instructed the Death Star to destroy the planet Yavin, which was where the Rebel Alliance, also known as the Rebellion against the Empire, was located. The Rebels dispatched many X-wings and Y-wings in response to try to destroy the Death Star after finding a weakness, thanks to some stolen information.

Vader led a counter attack of TIE fighters and ended up destroying about 90% of the Rebel's defense. Then a pilot named Luke Skywalker fired the two most important shots of the battle, which went straight to the core of the Death Star, destroying it along with many Imperial officers, including now Grand Moff Tarkin. Vader had managed to escape the explosion.

After recovering from this battle, the Empire attacked the new Rebel base on Hoth. They managed to take over the base, but the Rebels retreated before Vader could take any hostages.

Afterwards, Luke Skywalker encountered Vader in a lightsaber duel on Cloud City while trying to rescue some of his comrades that had been taken prisoner there. After he cut off Luke's right hand, Vader revealed to Luke that he was his father. Luke managed to escape, barely alive.

Later, Luke and the other Rebels planned their final attack against the Empire. They snuck onto the planet Endor to try to deactivate the shield generator surrounding the new Death Star that had been recently created, while Luke handed himself over to Vader and was taken to Palpatine, who was inside the new Death Star.

Luke tried to reason with Vader to become good again, but instead ended up in another lightsaber duel with him, as Palpatine looked on.

Eventually, after being goaded by Vader and Palpatine, Luke cut off Vader's right hand, but refused to kill him. Palpatine then decided to kill Luke since he was not willing to join the dark side or kill Vader.

Before Palpatine could finish Luke, Vader grabbed Palpatine and hurled him over a balcony into a pit, ending his life.

However, Vader was mortally injured by Palpatine's force lightning as a result and died shortly afterwards.

The Rebels managed to destroy the second Death Star shortly after Luke managed to escape with Vader's body.

Later, after Luke gave Vader a traditional honorary Jedi cremation, he and the others celebrated their victory against the Empire on Endor.

The Empire had been defeated, but they are far from done . . .


	35. Aftermath: Chapter One

Chapter One

Inside the Oracle's chambers, the Oracle still sat in the huge throne in the center of the large, white room. An alien that looked sort of like a walrus without tusks is now on his left, holding a pole that had a mace on either end. But the guard that was supposed to be standing on the Oracle's right stood in the middle of the room, facing him.

"Your rantings are getting pointless." said the Oracle, sounding irritated.

"Only because you don't care what will happen to us." said Syke.

"It is not my fault things turned out the way they had. I have no control over what I see."

"Yes, but you have made it no easier for us to deal with."

"You both barged in here and demanded protection. I have obliged. My chambers are not a hideout for renegade Jedi survivors."

"But you don't know what she has gone through!" shouted Syke, "All her friends were killed!"

"But that was about 20 years ago, wasn't it?" said the Oracle, "If she has not gotten over them by now, then she is very weak for a Jedi."

"She's gotten over their deaths, alright." said Syke, "It's you she has not yet forgiven."

"If you are referring to the raging fit she threw at me when she came back here . . ." the Oracle began, but Syke overrode him.

"She was devastated! Besides, you never mentioned that anyone was going to die."

"I said that the victor was uncertain. I never said anything about who lived or died."

"But that's not the point! Nothing you said made sense with what has happened! Her final foe was Zograf the clone maker and Alku's was Darth Vader. What was so unexpected about them? The final battle was fought and we barely won."

The Oracle looked at Syke in confusion.

"The latest battle was not the final struggle I foresaw. She has not faced her final foe yet and neither have you."

Syke stared at him in disbelief.

"But you said that Alku and me would be in the last fight." said Moona as she came out of a door on the right side of the Oracle's throne.

She looked very disheveled and worn out now, like she had suffered 50 years of misery since Alku died.

"Your point being?" asked the Oracle.

"Alku is dead!" Moona shouted at him, causing her voice to echo deafeningly off the walls.

"My visions have never been wrong. Everything will come to pass." said the Oracle simply.

"But you should explain to her why you have let her friend die. You owe her that much." said Syke.

"Her friend did not seem to appreciate my help and neither did she, if I remember correctly." said the Oracle carelessly.

Moona suddenly ignited her lightsaber and moved toward him.

At once, the bodyguard on the Oracle's left came forward and blocked him from Moona's blade. But Syke had already stepped in front of her.

"I know you are upset, but killing the Oracle won't accomplish anything." he said.

"Then make him explain without being so insulting." said Moona angrily.

Syke turned to the guard still blocking the Oracle.

"She is a Jedi Master now." he said to the guard, "What chance would you have against her?"

He looked past the guard at the Oracle.

"Please, either explain or see if there is anything else we can know at this point."

The Oracle considered, then said reluctantly "Very well."

He nodded at the bodyguard, who stepped back to his original position at once. Moona turned off her blade.

"I shall see if you are allowed to know any more knowledge than I have already given to you."

Then he closed his four eyes, lowered his head like he did the first time and thought.


	36. Aftermath: Chapter Two

Chapter Two

On Coruscant, the Imperial palace lies in ruins. Only half of the building is still standing.

Avery Contra, a mechanical eye patch now covering his left eye hole and the slash on his face and a robotical arm now attached to his left shoulder, is pacing around what used to be Zograf's clone lab.

"It is now time?" asked Contra.

"Yes." said an unseen figure from within Zograf's old workstation, "But we now have to slightly alter our plans due to Joseph's untimely death several years ago."

"Yes, but we didn't really need him anyway, did we?" asked Contra.

"Have you failed to remember that most of our plan would not have been possible had he not made a clone for me?" asked the unseen figure fiercely.

Contra sighed impatiently. "Yes, but besides that, I meant how could he be useful to us now?"

"Because we could have used all the help we can afford." said the voice.

"But it's only one Jedi we have to kill now. Surely you and me are enough to take down one Jedi?"

"We don't know if it's just one Jedi. She might have rounded up other survivors by now." said the voice, "There is no room for errors this time."

Contra flexed his new robotical arm around.

"Well, as long as I am forced to wear these attachments, I might as well use them. I need to kill another Jedi before I get over that humiliation I suffered years ago."

"Yes, but first we need to find her." said the voice, "She has been in hiding since Vader killed her Jedi partner on the Death Star. You and I are now the only bits of the Empire left who can do anything for now. We need to plan this right, because if you remember, the last time I rushed into a decision, I got killed on Kamino."

"But you technically didn't suffer from that. I was in recovery for five years! I almost died! Do you remember _that_?"

"Yes, I remember." said the voice a little impatiently, "I understand that you suffered, but I am still the Emperor here."

Contra sighed.

"Fine. What do we do first?"

"Well, we need to think of places that she could be hiding. Then we can think of how best to take her out."

Contra suddenly froze, looking towards the dark interior of Zograf's workroom.

"I think I know where she might be." he said slowly, "Remember when Zograf told you what he overheard during one of their transmissions?"

"Yes." said the voice.

"Well, when I viewed the recording of it and unscrambled the signal, I found out that Frucle was talking about an oracle. The Jedi might still be hiding there."

"Do you know where this oracle is located?" asked the voice.

"No. But I know that only aliens can find this particular one. Humans don't seem to have the ability unless an alien leads them there. I'm sure I can feel it out though. My attachments have some special features that I can use."

"Then take a ship and try to find this oracle." said the voice, "But remember; if you find her there, do not engage her. Tell me first, then I will assist you."

"Got it." said Contra.

He turned and walked toward an opening in the collapsed wall of Zograf's lab that faced the landing platform.

Before climbing through it, he looked back and said "By the way, what are you going to do in the meantime?"

When he turned, he saw that the figure he had been speaking to had come out of Zograf's workroom.

Emperor Jinx, his hair overgrown, his scruffy beard much more pronounced than before, replied "Well, I have my own revenge scenario to work on, don't I?"

Contra nodded to him, then climbed out of the wall of the palace, got into a shuttle that had not been damaged by the explosion, and took off.


	37. Aftermath: Chapter Three

Chapter Three

The Oracle raised his head and looked at Moona and Syke.

"I know where the last battle will take place and who will win. But you can't be told. The outcome might change if you do."

"And once again, you have just proven how entirely useless you are!" said Moona angrily.

"Where will it take place?" asked Syke.

"Coruscant."

"More details required." said Moona.

The Oracle sighed.

"I can't tell you." Moona swore loudly, then turned, stormed through the portal behind her, and disappeared.

"What should we do?" asked Syke.

"My vision implies that I am to help you no further. The outcome of this war rests in your hands."

"So what you're saying is, me and Moona have to decide what to do and if we end up doing the wrong thing, we will lose and there is nothing you or anyone else can do about it?"

"Correct." said the Oracle.

Syke turned and followed Moona out of the portal, emerging onto the pathway surrounded by purple sand. Moona was off to the side, looking down at the three cairns she had made sitting in the sand, representing Alku, Runcock, and Aliga Frucle's deaths. Syke walked up behind her.

"Before I met him, I thought he would be a great person, judging by his title of course. He could see things, but he was not willing to help anyone. I know because most people ended up in worse situations than they were before seeing him. Your friend Aliga Frucle was a good example."

He paused and looked down at Frucle's cairn on the right.

"Before he met you, he had a problem and asked the Oracle for help. But all he would tell him were vague hints about his future. I had decided to return to my guard post because I thought it was a good way to stay on his good side and get more information from him. But he will not help us anymore. Do you have any ideas on what we should do?"

Moona had been looking at Alku's cairn the whole time.

"That detonation sequence you set off to blow up the palace wasn't at full power, was it?" she asked finally.

Syke sighed.

"No. At full power the explosion would have activated hours later and by that time, Zograf might have been able to shut it off. I figured a small explosion was better than none."

Moona looked up at him.

"But since it wasn't a real explosion, does that mean that some people in the building could have survived, depending on where they were located?"

"I suppose." said Syke.

"Then two things the Oracle said before could be proven true. He said that the final battle would be on Coruscant: If there were any survivors from the explosion, then that would be where they would be hiding out. Plus, you said the explosion was not powerful enough to detonate the whole building, so they might be hiding there. Also, he said that our last enemy would be familiar and new. In this case, familiar would mean someone from the Empire, and new would mean someone we have not met yet or totally inconvenient until now."

Syke stared.

"Wow. You sure know how to make a theory work."

"Thanks. So if my theory is true, then I should go to Coruscant and find the palace to see if anyone's still there."

"By yourself?" asked Syke, "Are you sure you don't think you'll need some backup?"

"I'm sure I'll be okay. You stay here and keep an eye on things."

Syke sighed.

"If you say so. Good luck."

"Thanks." said Moona, turning and walking down the path toward her battered ship parked nearby.

After she got into it and took off, Syke kneeled down in front of the three cairns and closed his eyes.


	38. Aftermath: Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Moona felt uncomfortable.

She was not entirely certain if her suspicion was correct, or if she was doing the right thing. She also felt that Syke should have come with her after all because she had no idea what she would be facing, if she was to face anything at all.

After a while, the planet Coruscant loomed ahead. She felt a chill run through her at the site. She started to take the same route she and Syke had taken years before.

After a while, she saw the palace, or what was left of it. More than half of it had been completely blown away and the parts that were still standing were either blackened or looked very unstable.

She landed her ship just in front of the buckled double doors that led inside. She got out and walked slowly into the interior of the palace.

Most of the main hallway was still standing, but all of the statues of Palpatine had collapsed and were lying in pieces on the floor. Most of the right side of the building was completely blown away. She continued down the hallway and found the same three doors facing her the first time she reached the end of it. She approached the door on the left that said "Throne Room" on it. She pushed the door open slowly.

Most of the room had been blown away, leaving only an overturned throne in the middle of it and a little bit of carpet and wall still standing on the left side. She backed out and closed the door.

Then she looked at the second door to the right. Most of it was blackened by suit, due to the explosion no doubt. This door's sign was only half visible. She could make out the words "Office of Josep" but the rest was unreadable.

"I'd better check in here before I go on." she said to herself.

Moona slowly opened the door and entered the clone lab. It now had huge chunks of wall missing from it and the computer that Syke had programmed to detonate was in pieces in the corner.

She edged further into the room, grasping her lightsaber hilt as she went. Apparently, Zograf's body had been removed after the explosion, because there was an imprint of his death pose against the black suit on the wall next to another door that had not been blown away. She approached this door cautiously and opened it. It was pitch black inside. She ignited her lightsaber so a bright purple light shone into the room. It appeared to be deserted, except for some random equipment.

Then the lights suddenly flashed on, blinding her for a second. She spun around, raising her blade.

There was a man standing in the doorway of the room she entered. He was wearing a black robe and had very overgrown curly hair and a beard. He was also holding an ignited lightsaber. The blade was red.

"Oh, let me guess. You're my final enemy, right?" asked Moona in a bored voice.

The man looked confused.

"Um . . . yes. I am the one who finally kills you."

"Well, since you're about to die, why don't you tell me how you survived the explosion?" said Moona.

The man hesitated, then began to talk.

"Long story short: Me and Zograf got together. He made a clone for me. I sent it to Kamino to get killed to fake my own death so no one would think about me. This room was protected. I survived. I waited until the time was right, and now I kill you."

"Nice story, but I don't think you're as much of a threat as Vader or anyone else I've had to face."

The man raised his left hand.

"I think you will find that you are wrong in that statement." he said as force lightning shot out of his fingers at her, "On many levels."


	39. Aftermath: Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Syke woke up.

He did not know what had just happened, but he seemed to have zoned out for a while. Maybe the Oracle was having some fun with his mind for siding against him earlier.

Syke got to his feet and walked back through the portal, determined to prove to the Oracle that he would not be messed with or criticized about his opinions. When he emerged on the other side, he felt pinned to the ground with shock.

The chamber was completely demolished.

The dead body of the bodyguard was lying in front of the overturned throne the Oracle usually inhabited. He moved further into the room and cautiously looked behind the throne.

The Oracle was lying decapitated behind it in a pool of blood.

Syke stared in disbelief at the Oracle's body until he heard a voice behind him.

"Neat, isn't it?"

Syke turned.

A man dressed in an Imperial uniform was standing near the portal. He had a mechanical eye patch covering a slash on the left side of his face and a robotical left arm attachment.

"Who are you?"

"Avery Contra."

"So, you're my final enemy?"

Contra looked a little confused.

"Um, I guess so."

"How did you know where to find this place?"

"This eye patch isn't just for looks, you know. It can see things beyond human perception. Like the portal into this place. But mostly, it was Frucle's fault."

Syke tensed.

"What do you mean? How do you know Aliga?"

"Well, I kinda bumped into him during one of my experiments."

"Experiments?"

"Yes. I was an expert at mixing chemicals and formulas. I had created a new drug to increase one's power levels to give to our soldiers. But I had to test it before giving it out. So I kidnapped a useless alien life form to test it on. It worked perfectly. The alien was immune to any attacks and was almost unkillable. The only side effects were a complete memory wipe, a case of insanity, and one weak spot on its head. Before I could correct those flaws, the Star Destroyer my equipment was in crashed on Nagob and the alien escaped."

"But what does this have to do with Aliga?" asked Syke.

"The name of the alien I had tested my drug on was Angus Frucle."

Syke stared.

"Then that's why he wanted revenge on the Empire. You turned his brother into the Monster of Nagob."

"Yes. Now, where is that Jedi?"

"What? Your special eye patch didn't tell you?"

In response, Contra raised his robotical arm, which had transformed into a gatlin. Syke raised his hands and repelled Contra's bullets back at him. They missed and hit the wall behind him. Then Contra's arm changed into a two fingered claw. Syke tried to swerve away, but Contra's claw had already closed around his neck. Syke gagged and tried to pull the claw off his neck, but it was too strong. He began to see white lights in front of his eyes. He knew he would be dead any minute.

Then lasers shot out of his eyes and struck Contra's face, causing him to release his neck. He heard Contra cry out in pain and fall to the ground.

As his vision returned, Syke looked down on Contra. He had two sizzling holes on his face: One in his forehead and one shattered through his eye patch. He was clearly dead.

Then as he looked up, Syke had a sudden understanding about everything that had happened. He knew now what had to be done.

He turned to face the window behind the throne. Then he closed his eyes and lowered his head.


	40. Aftermath: Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Moona's blade barely caught the string of lightning in time. It rebounded back at the man, who stepped aside so it shot past him and hit the wall of the clone lab behind him.

"Yes. I didn't think you would die that easily. But I have been preparing for this for nearly 20 years. There is no way you can top that."

"We'll see." said Moona, charging forward.

The man just managed to block Moona's blade before it would have severed his neck. He forced her blade back and swung at her chest. Moona blocked it easily and kicked out at the man, causing him to fly backward out of the room into the blown up clone lab. Moona followed and tried to slash at the man's arm, but he moved it quickly and rose his blade up to strike Moona's head. She blocked it again and backed away.

"Who are you anyway; some random officer who doesn't care about his appearance?"

"No." said the man, "I am Randall Jinx, Emperor of the Galactic Empire!"

Moona burst out laughing.

Gasping for breath, she said "You're . . . kidding right? Man, you guys have gotten so ridiculous lately!"

Jinx's face reddened and he looked very angry.

"Don't make fun of me or I will kill you!" he shouted at Moona, who was still trying to control her laughter.

"Yeah and if I stop laughing, you'll let me go? _You're_ my final enemy? Wow. That Oracle really is stupid if he believed you to be a threat!"

Now Jinx looked interested.

"The Oracle, huh? Well, that means Contra was right after all. You have been hiding there."

"What?" said Moona, taken aback.

Now Jinx started laughing, although there was nothing said or done that was very funny at all.

"Um, you are aware that I'm right here, aren't you?" asked Moona as Jinx continued to laugh.

"Yeah. What's your point?" asked Jinx as he regained control of his laughter.

"Well, I'm not there. He's not going to find anything."

"Well, you are _here_, so too bad for him, too good for me."

Moona lunged at Jinx without warning, causing him to raise his blade quickly to block her strike. Moona swung her blade back to swing it at Jinx's neck, but he once again blocked it.

After that, Moona and Jinx began swinging and slashing and blocking so fast, Moona could not even keep track of where her own blade was going. Then Jinx's foot shot out of the blur and kicked her in the stomach. She was flung backwards, but merely flipped over and landed back on her feet anyway.

"If you had not killed Zograf, you would be dead now." said Jinx.

"Why? Because you two were such close friends?"

"Exactly. It was the three of us: Me, Contra and Zograf. All three of us wanted to get rid of Palpatine and Vader. We all wanted to get our revenge on those who abandoned, embarrassed, or shunned us. We would have been the most powerful trio group in history. Zograf would be fighting with us right now and we would be celebrating while you lay dead at our feet."

"Okay, time out!" said Moona, "Look, I don't care how things would have turned up if Zograf hadn't died and I don't care how much Zograf would have meant to this battle."

"You should." said Jinx, "Don't you wish Justina was here fighting with you?"

Moona froze.

"Yeah." said Jinx, "That's one thing we both have in common. We both have lost important allies to our causes and we are both in bad shape because of it. Look at you. I just mention him vaguely and you let your guard down. Although, Zograf was not really my friend; He was mostly just an ally I could use. Since you have formed a friendship with Justina, you miss him even more. It is your weakness. That is why we who learn the dark side don't make friends. They just hold us back and make us weaker because we have to watch out for them and make sure nothing happens to them. That's probably why he died, too, because he was worried about you and slipped up. Gave Vader the perfect chance to end his-"

"SHUT UP!"

Moona flung across the room so fast she was a blur and slammed into Jinx, causing him to smash through the door out of the clone lab and into the hallway beyond. Jinx got gingerly to his feet as Moona followed him out of the lab.

"There. See how much more powerful you became when you are angry? Vader tried to prove that to you several times if I recall. But I got to you on the first try. What does that tell you about me?"

Moona glared at Jinx in hatred.

"I was wrong. You _are_ worse than Vader."

"But a few minutes ago, you said I was a joke. I was ridiculous and not a real threat, wasn't I?"

Jinx swung his blade at Moona again and she was barely able to block it.

"Now you're getting weaker. You can barely hold me off." said Jinx as he swung at her again and she only just caught the blow in time, "You would have been better off without him. If you didn't have to think about him, then you would probably have killed me already."

Then Jinx shot lightning at her again.

This time, the lightning struck her, so that she flew backwards and slammed into the door that led into the throne room, dropping her lightsaber as she went. Electricity surged up her body and she felt like her brain was vibrating inside her head.

Jinx finally lowered his hand and strode over to her, aiming his blade at her neck. She was too bewildered to summon her lightsaber to defend herself.

"I did warn you. Now you're going to die like your stupid friend."

He raised his blade.

"Too bad he's not here to help you this time."

"Think again." said a voice behind him.

Jinx spun around in time to see a fist fly straight into his face. He staggered backward and held his left hand to his bleeding nose as he looked up.

He stared, terrified.

Moona gasped.

Standing in front of them with his green blade ignited and a weird, bright light glowing all around him, was Alku Justina.


	41. Aftermath: Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Moona stared.

She must have hit her head really hard on the door. She shook it vigorously and looked up again.

Alku still stood there. He was glowing around the edges and his robotical arm was gone, replaced with a real one.

Jinx flung himself forward and swung his blade at Alku, who raised his own blade and blocked it.

Then Jinx's blade cut through Alku's left shoulder, cutting off his entire arm. But his arm didn't disconnect from his shoulder, but instantly healed itself, showing no trace of the lightsaber's impact there.

Jinx stared in shock at the fallen Jedi, then charged again.

They continued to slash and spin at each other while Moona used the Force to retrieve her lightsaber from where it fell. Jinx turned as she ignited it and ran at her instead. She just managed to block Jinx's blade in time.

Then as Alku came up behind him, Jinx spun around and shot lightning at him, causing him to fly backward onto the floor in front of the main hallway behind him. Jinx approached him as he got up.

"I don't know how you came back, but prepare to leave again!"

Before Jinx could aim his blade, Alku flung himself up and backed into Jinx, causing them both to slam into the opposite wall. With Jinx pinned between his back and the wall, Alku thrust his blade through his _own_ chest so that it came out through his back and stabbed Jinx in the chest as well. Jinx stared down in shock.

"How . . . ?"

Then he made a burbling sort of noise, fell off the blade to the ground and didn't move again.

Alku wrenched his blade out of his chest, which instantly healed itself.

Moona gaped at him.

"Hey Moona. Long time, no see." said Alku, grinning.

"How? How did-?" Moona sputtered in disbelief.

"I'm not sure I can explain it properly, but I'll try my best." said Alku, as he put his lightsaber back on his belt.

"What happened to you? Weren't you, you know . . ."

"Yeah, I was dead." said Alku, "As a matter of fact, I think I still am."

Moona stared at him for another long moment.

"It was Syke." said Alku.

"What? How could he do this?"

"I think he's an oracle now. The previous one we met before is dead, so I guess he got promoted without knowing it."

"But I was just there! When did he die?"

"Not too long ago. I think Syke summoned me from the beyond so I could help you defeat, um, whoever he is."

He looked down at Jinx on the floor.

"His name is Jinx. He was the last enemy the Oracle had referred to."

"So he was right?" said Alku, "Huh. I thought he was just a knock off."

"No, he just didn't care much about the people he gave advice to." said Moona.

"Well, I guess this also means that he was right about the both of us being in the last fight, too. He just didn't bother to mention that I'd already be dead." said Alku.

"We should go back to the Oracle's chambers. I want Syke to explain everything more thoroughly." said Moona.

"Yeah, I'll come with you for that."

The tone in his voice made Moona suspect Alku was hiding something.

"What's going to happen next?" she asked him tentatively.

"I can't stay. I have to go back once I'm done here."

Moona sighed.

"I knew there'd be a catch somewhere. Why did they bother to let you come back if you can't stay?"

"I tried to convince Syke to let me stay, but he said it would be against everything we believed in, you know."

"Yeah, but that still doesn't mean it's fair." said Moona.

"I know. Well, maybe you can convince Syke."

Moona sighed again.

"Here. I can transport us both back. Grab my arm and don't loosen your grip."

Moona obliged and grabbed Alku's arm.

Then there was a flash of light and the demolished interior of the palace disappeared.


	42. Aftermath: Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Moona now found herself standing in the Oracle's chambers. She looked around and saw Syke sitting in the Oracle's throne, looking rather reluctant. She strode up to him.

"Hello Moona." said Syke.

She looked up at him.

"So? Are you going to explain what's happened here since I left?"

"Well, I'm not really sure _why_ things have happened, but I can tell you _what_ has happened. I was ambushed by a surviving Imperial officer named Avery Contra. He snuck by me and killed the Oracle. I remembered feeling something odd inside me, but I wasn't sure what it was. So I returned to the chambers and found Contra. We briefly engaged in combat and he was about to kill me when I somehow shot lasers out of my eyes, which killed him. After that, I understood everything. The reason I understood was because I had become the new oracle after Contra had killed the first one. I knew then that I could change the tide of this battle if I wanted to. I had also gained new powers because of my new position. So, I tried to summon Alku's spirit from the beyond briefly and obviously I was successful. We both realized that he now had some special abilities as well to help you in your fight, so I allowed him to go and assist you. Apparently, you have succeeded in that as well. So now all remaining links to the Empire that I am aware of are now gone."

"Wait." said Alku, "What do you mean, all that you're aware of? Are you saying there might be more?"

Syke shrugged.

"Who knows? I don't think even oracles can see that much. But I do know that you two have done all you were meant to do for our cause."

"Okay." said Moona, "But what about Alku? He is allowed to stay, right?"

Syke lowered his head.

"I'm sorry Moona, but Alku has now served his purpose. He cannot remain here anymore."

"But-" Moona began to retort, but Syke interrupted her.

"If I allowed Alku to come back from the dead, do you think it would be fair to anyone else who has lost someone? That would come under the category of personal gain and greed. Would you want to be known for those principals?"

Moona glared at Syke.

"No, of course not. But you can't just expect me to see Alku again and then just let him go."

"Well, think about this." said Syke, "Would you rather have seen him for the last time years ago when he said he would return and ended up being killed by Vader, or would you rather take this opportunity to give him a proper goodbye?"

Moona looked over at Alku.

"This is better. But I would rather not have to say goodbye at all."

"I know." said Alku, "I would give up anything to stay alive, but I've served my purpose and now I have to go on."

Moona walked forward and did something she had never done before, and hugged him.

After she broke away she looked at him and said, "Well, I guess we've had a good go at it, huh?"

"Yeah."

They looked at each in silence.

"Well, bye, then." said Alku.

"Yeah, bye." said Moona.

Alku walked to the center of the room and looked at Syke.

"Okay, do what you have to."

Syke nodded and closed his eyes.

"Wait!" said Moona suddenly.

Syke reopened his eyes.

"There's one thing I want to ask you before you go."

"What is it?" asked Alku.

"What happens when you die?"

Alku shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I'll never know until the moving on stage, because once you know, you really can't come back to tell anyone."

"Oh, right." said Moona, "I just thought it would be nice to know what to expect once I die."

"Well, expect a great welcoming party during the first stage. When I died, one minute I was in horrible pain looking at Vader, then I was in a white void being greeted by what seemed like every single Jedi that has died in the past. Runcock was there."

Moona looked amazed.

"Really?"

"Yeah. He wanted to come back with me to help you, but Syke only had enough ability to return one of us. We thought I would be able to help more, so he stayed behind. I also found out that Palpatine was the one who actually ended up killed Vader."

"Really? So Vader betrayed Palpatine then?"

"Sort of. At the last moment, Vader had reverted back to Anakin Skywalker."

Moona's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Yeah. But they actually ended up killing each other at the same time. So, I guess there was some good left in Vader after all. He turned up, actually. He came to the void a few days ago before I got summoned back here. All that stuff was very recent. It happened only a few days ago."

"But if you were supposed to go on, why didn't you?"

"Apparently we can go whenever we decide to. Some of them have been there for years. Runcock advised me to stay because he had a funny feeling I wasn't ready yet. Good thing I did, or Syke could never have summoned me back and I wouldn't have been able to help you kill that Jinx guy."

"Well, I guess this means I'm still the only Jedi alive."

"Actually, there is one more besides you. He was trained very recently. Maybe you can meet up with him and recreate the Jedi Order?"

"No, not now. I think I should wait until I am needed for that." said Moona.

Syke looked pointedly at Alku.

"Oh, sorry. Moona, I have to go now. I really enjoyed fighting beside you before. We made a big difference in this war. Good luck."

Then Syke lowered his head and closed his eyes again.

Moona waved at Alku as a white light surrounded him. He waved back until the light swallowed him up. Then both the light and Alku had vanished. Moona lowered her hand, still staring at where Alku had vanished.

"I'm sorry." said Syke, looking at her.

"Yeah, I know."

"So what are you going to do now?"

Moona sighed.

"I'm not sure. But I think I know what you'll be doing from now on."

Syke looked around the chamber and sighed.

"Yes. I do not want to have this job. However, since I am in this position, I will try to give oracles a better reputation then my predecessor."

"I know you will. Good luck."

She began to walk toward the portal.

"You're not staying here either?" asked Syke.

"No. I'll come back and visit sometimes. I won't have to present you with anything, will I?"

Syke smiled.

"No. Firstly, it would only have been necessary if you had come for information and secondly, that was only the first Oracle's rule. I will be giving information to anyone who needs it, simple as that."

"Good. Something tells me you'll be the only oracle in the galaxy anyone will go to." said Moona.

She put her foot into the portal.

"But what _are_ you going to do?" Syke asked again.

Moona turned to him.

"I'm going back to Nagob."

Syke stared at her.

"What for?"

"I'm not staying. I'm just going to visit different planets and explore them, you know?"

"If that's what you want to do." said Syke.

Moona waved at him, then passed through the portal and emerged on the other side. She saw that her ship had been returned.

"Thanks Alku." she said to herself.

Then she got into her ship. It lifted off from the ground and took off into the distance.


End file.
